tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50454263073790867042015-03-31T12:05:50.777-07:00Cat PatchesCats, Cooking, Quilts, Gardening, and PhotographyBarbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.comBlogger2553125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-58082780176871842862015-03-31T06:00:00.000-07:002015-03-31T06:00:12.800-07:00Flowers and MoreAs I said yesterday, it was a day for getting outside and pruning the last of the five hydrangeas. It's also the largest of the hydrangeas and it has grown leggy. It needed to have last year's dead blossoms pruned off, but it also needed to be shaped. That took less time than anticipated. I filled the bird feeders and then took a walk around the yard with my little buddy to see what's new.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1gxoSEm8i3A/VRmt76raUBI/AAAAAAAAuPw/uVJqKMQClbk/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B026%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1gxoSEm8i3A/VRmt76raUBI/AAAAAAAAuPw/uVJqKMQClbk/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B026%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The cherry tree is in full bloom now. This is the larger of the two trees. It gets more sun. The other has a few blossoms, but it is less impressive. It's always a question who will get to eat the resulting cherries. Humans or raccoons? Sometimes we get to them first. Sometimes it's the raccoons.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T7aIpNhKqTA/VRmtsk4RYhI/AAAAAAAAuOE/dNpVGgKkXZs/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T7aIpNhKqTA/VRmtsk4RYhI/AAAAAAAAuOE/dNpVGgKkXZs/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, the plum tree is in full bloom. The last two years, the tree has been loaded with plums. We didn't get any of these because we took off on a trip each year just when they were ripening. We're not planning a big trip this fall, and so hopefully, we'll get another good harvest. I'd actually like to enjoy them for a change.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J57yS6xF8XI/VRmt5OEfWgI/AAAAAAAAuPY/7f7lpoWSaXA/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B017%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J57yS6xF8XI/VRmt5OEfWgI/AAAAAAAAuPY/7f7lpoWSaXA/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B017%2Bcopy.jpg" height="470" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I approached the tree to see if there were any bees buzzing around. There were none, but we have seen some mason bees around. They like to crawl up in the cracks of our cedar shake siding. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_bee">Mason bees</a> are the best pollinators, and so we encourage them.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ho6aWKYQ6sc/VRmt309XupI/AAAAAAAAuPM/NvZH9yHnrKM/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B018%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ho6aWKYQ6sc/VRmt309XupI/AAAAAAAAuPM/NvZH9yHnrKM/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B018%2Bcopy.jpg" height="466" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was also good to see some surviving tulips blooming where I planted them in the whiskey barrels. The squirrels ate most of the bulbs a few summers ago. Since then, a trusty squirrel hunting cat has moved in and the squirrels have moved out.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-py8RYqh2d4s/VRmt636_OjI/AAAAAAAAuPk/m5kHccdkciA/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B022%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-py8RYqh2d4s/VRmt636_OjI/AAAAAAAAuPk/m5kHccdkciA/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B022%2Bcopy.jpg" height="572" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There seem to be tulips in all five of the whiskey barrels, and they will fill in over time.&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XgCRuCajq4s/VRmtq7nssTI/AAAAAAAAuN0/7BheIQ5XIXY/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XgCRuCajq4s/VRmtq7nssTI/AAAAAAAAuN0/7BheIQ5XIXY/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="408" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've given up planting them, and I'll just hope for the best on the ones remaining. Here's another group. They're keeping their color a secret for now.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KU8BnMD2VaM/VRmttZTlXLI/AAAAAAAAuOM/SXU6sXAW4oE/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KU8BnMD2VaM/VRmttZTlXLI/AAAAAAAAuOM/SXU6sXAW4oE/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" height="524" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This group is at the front door.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ShySPqyIGSE/VRmt11h3dDI/AAAAAAAAuPA/HE2bGvsZ8Nk/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B016%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ShySPqyIGSE/VRmt11h3dDI/AAAAAAAAuPA/HE2bGvsZ8Nk/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B016%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="496" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also at the front door, the wisteria is starting to open.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iLDpD81J8MI/VRmt0OX2bnI/AAAAAAAAuOs/3ip61LEwuF4/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B014%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iLDpD81J8MI/VRmt0OX2bnI/AAAAAAAAuOs/3ip61LEwuF4/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B014%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="438" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It is positively covered with blossoms this year. It's going to be spectacular if they all open at the same time.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qdv7zp2bJhE/VRmt1GTFTlI/AAAAAAAAuO4/Xnz_omD6zFQ/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B015%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qdv7zp2bJhE/VRmt1GTFTlI/AAAAAAAAuO4/Xnz_omD6zFQ/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B015%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="440" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The clematis is in full bloom.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SXrbwZXFpao/VRmt0J577MI/AAAAAAAAuOw/XrhNX2adQHA/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SXrbwZXFpao/VRmt0J577MI/AAAAAAAAuOw/XrhNX2adQHA/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The vine covers one whole short wall on the south side of the house. Here's how the flowers look close up.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yFsht6cSKtI/VRmtyS_ER4I/AAAAAAAAuOk/C_yAEhtxEMU/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yFsht6cSKtI/VRmtyS_ER4I/AAAAAAAAuOk/C_yAEhtxEMU/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, the bleeding heart has started blooming.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qGxa4fRa614/VRmtw_I99fI/AAAAAAAAuOc/YHOlcSs5Huk/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B011%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qGxa4fRa614/VRmtw_I99fI/AAAAAAAAuOc/YHOlcSs5Huk/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B011%2Bcopy.jpg" height="504" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And the Andromeda is putting on its best show of the season. Those red leaves will open up even more and they will grow larger.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T1P2t-5Rzps/VRmtuVGrbLI/AAAAAAAAuOU/2dBCdfxZ1tk/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T1P2t-5Rzps/VRmtuVGrbLI/AAAAAAAAuOU/2dBCdfxZ1tk/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is the first open azalea blossom. In a week or so, all of the azaleas will be covered in flowers.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tJBh9ojoS8I/VRmtqxDXzLI/AAAAAAAAuN4/jn8FPMgzjmA/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B008%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tJBh9ojoS8I/VRmtqxDXzLI/AAAAAAAAuN4/jn8FPMgzjmA/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B008%2Bcopy.jpg" height="512" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yes, it really is that bright.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Smitty is doing his part keeping the grass mowed. Keep eating, little buddy. Lots more to do.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6gx605ycp8U/VRmt46K9cOI/AAAAAAAAuPU/u9XwtOID_1E/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B020%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6gx605ycp8U/VRmt46K9cOI/AAAAAAAAuPU/u9XwtOID_1E/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B020%2Bcopy.jpg" height="500" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Unlike Gracie, he doesn't immediately hork it up right after coming back inside the house. And unlike Gracie, he actually comes outside occasionally. Gracie has been coming out in the afternoon, but in the morning, her priority list reads as follows:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1. Morning Nap<br />2. Mid-morning Nap<br />3. Noon Nap<br />4. Afternoon Nap<br />5. Treats<br />6. After-treat Nap<br />7. Before Dinner Nap<br />8. Dinner<br />9. After Dinner Nap</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">She takes her list very seriously.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Smitty has been more wary about being out by himself for the past few days. He seems to be aware that the bobcat has been around. We're guessing the bobcat has marked his territory, and Smitty respects that. It's just as well. He's been out by himself less often and for less time. When he's out, he sticks close to the house.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fc_LTn9uNYg/VRmt7kZOeZI/AAAAAAAAuPs/odUSS7g5GoE/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B025%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fc_LTn9uNYg/VRmt7kZOeZI/AAAAAAAAuPs/odUSS7g5GoE/s1600/Hydrangea%2BPruning%2B025%2Bcopy.jpg" height="586" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Smart kitty. He'll stay alive that way.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Later in the afternoon, I got to work on the 10th Irish Door. Here's the door I'm making:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9sg2agQUJ9M/VRnc_bypOkI/AAAAAAAAuQI/kNqX6vqV7uE/s1600/Doors%2Bof%2BIreland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9sg2agQUJ9M/VRnc_bypOkI/AAAAAAAAuQI/kNqX6vqV7uE/s1600/Doors%2Bof%2BIreland.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's what I have so far:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jxmqL5vvaa0/VRnc_S19mJI/AAAAAAAAuQE/X4XkV2nOEMU/s1600/Doors%2Bof%2BIreland%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jxmqL5vvaa0/VRnc_S19mJI/AAAAAAAAuQE/X4XkV2nOEMU/s1600/Doors%2Bof%2BIreland%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" height="580" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>I printed the posters onto fabric, and then fused them into the windows. The appliques need top-stitching and I'll want to stitch in some of the details. That will be today's job. Also today I need to make a trip to the post office and then to the grocery store.<br /><br />The day is mapped out, and so off I go. I hope you have a good day today!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-36790861739769964462015-03-30T09:29:00.002-07:002015-03-30T09:29:48.816-07:00Wallful of CatsThis morning I hung the Sew Helpful quilt on the Wall of Cats. I think I might be able to fit one more quilt below this one, but then the first of my four stairwell walls will be filled.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P8ZjWNu4p1c/VRlzC0k1LjI/AAAAAAAAuNE/PxuPhA81KOo/s1600/Treadmill%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P8ZjWNu4p1c/VRlzC0k1LjI/AAAAAAAAuNE/PxuPhA81KOo/s1600/Treadmill%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" height="570" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you're new to this blog, allow me to explain. There are two stairwells in our home...essentially narrow hallways with stairs. Since I've made bunches of small cat quilts, I decided to hang them on the walls of the stairwells. That gives me four walls to work with. I'm closing in on finishing the first full wall. When I hung up the "Love Me, Love My Cat" redwork, I thought I was finished with this wall. This morning, I realized that I can fit a couple more small quilts at the bottom. Since I'm not able to back away from this wall to show you a good picture of all of them, I wrote a blog post a while back with pictures of all the quilts. If you're interested, you can <a href="http://catpatches.blogspot.com/2013/06/catter-walling.html">see them all right here</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was a sewing-free weekend, except for some embroidery. It was nice to take a little break from it. We picked up a treadmill from Erik and Mae yesterday. With great effort the two of us managed to lug it up the stairs to our bedroom where it is now installed in the dormer.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qY61FTiUTAM/VRlzF1_jSJI/AAAAAAAAuNc/1psYRVYjmpI/s1600/Treadmill%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qY61FTiUTAM/VRlzF1_jSJI/AAAAAAAAuNc/1psYRVYjmpI/s1600/Treadmill%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="432" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since I've been unsuccessful in forcing myself out the door to a regular exercise program, I have high hopes that this will be the answer to my deficient ambition. I've been inhaling audio books while I'm sewing, and so I think turning on an audio book and walking for a half hour most days will get me doing it more regularly. I wanted the treadmill in the dormer so that I can look out on the field while I'm walking. It's hard to see in this image below, but I can watch the birds from the window...and there's usually something going on out there no matter what. Usually there's some sort of wildlife (domestic or otherwise) wandering through. This is my view. On a clear day, I can see the mountains.&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lE9ZITqfM2c/VRlzF_1UK2I/AAAAAAAAuNg/38wNzLBhz00/s1600/Treadmill%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lE9ZITqfM2c/VRlzF_1UK2I/AAAAAAAAuNg/38wNzLBhz00/s1600/Treadmill%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" height="458" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After all that effort yesterday, we started early making this beer can chicken. If you've never had beer can chicken, then I'll tell you that it is a chicken with a beer can stuffed up its rear end and then barbecued. My recipe happens to include a rub both over and under the skin. The remainder of the rub goes into the beer can with the half can of beer. It takes a couple of hours to cook the chicken completely, but it is delicious.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K8bGhh_N0z4/VRlzC15_3DI/AAAAAAAAuM8/Cze9diLfXco/s1600/Treadmill%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K8bGhh_N0z4/VRlzC15_3DI/AAAAAAAAuM8/Cze9diLfXco/s1600/Treadmill%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our chicken has a stand that holds it upright. The first time we did this, we did it with the beer can alone, which didn't work well at all. There are a number of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Old-Smokey-Beer-Chicken-Holder/dp/B000XE63M2">stands on the market</a>, and I recommend using one. In searching out that link, I also found this article that throws a <a href="http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/debunking_beer_can_chicken.html">wet blanket</a> on this whole idea. Whatever. It's kind of fun, and it tastes good. Where's the harm?&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you're interested in giving this a try, here's a link to <a href="http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/beer-can-chicken-with-cola-barbecue-sauce">the recipe</a> I've used. I like the barbecue sauce that comes with my recipe. Besides, you gotta love a recipe that starts out with these words: "Open beer can; drink half." Also, I read a tip for an alcohol-free bird: Try lemonade, ginger-ale or even your favorite cola.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This morning I finished stitching the overlapping sheets of Sticky-Fabri-Solvy on the latest Vintage Tin block. When I have to overlap the sheets, they tend to shift, and so I stitch those areas first.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6qDXvpaeksY/VRlzC2FU8QI/AAAAAAAAuNA/57T3goqjksA/s1600/Treadmill%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6qDXvpaeksY/VRlzC2FU8QI/AAAAAAAAuNA/57T3goqjksA/s1600/Treadmill%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" height="490" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You can see the faint lines that I've left unstitched in favor of the ones I decided were a better choice. The shift isn't enough to make a difference in the finished block, but I still think it's a good idea to start there and minimize the process. With that done, I'm hooped up and ready to start heading bottom to top and right to left across the piece. There's still lots of mileage to cover on this one.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CtiZ-f_8dP4/VRlzE_by9dI/AAAAAAAAuNU/C4AFgvFUxFQ/s1600/Treadmill%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CtiZ-f_8dP4/VRlzE_by9dI/AAAAAAAAuNU/C4AFgvFUxFQ/s1600/Treadmill%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" height="576" width="640" /></a></div><br />There's also another area of overlap farther to the left, but I'll worry about that part when I get there.<br /><br />It's the last nice day of weather for a while, and so I'm going to get outside and prune the dead stuff from one more hydrangea. We have five hydrangeas, and I've pruned all but one. When I did the others, the last one was still in too much shade to have put out any shoots. I needed to wait until I could see what is alive and what isn't. It's the largest of the hydrangeas, and so I expect that will take me about an hour. When that's finished I'm going to get a start on my latest door for the Doors of Ireland.<br /><br />Next up: breakfast. Then I'll give that treadmill a workout. Please keep your fingers crossed that I don't hurt myself. What's on your agenda for this last Monday in March?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-44486099833002739082015-03-29T09:41:00.000-07:002015-03-29T09:41:27.008-07:00Slow Saturday, Slower SundayMy energy level seems to have taken a dive lately. Not getting good sleep isn't helping. I'm not one to whine about the change to daylight savings time because I happen to like that extra hour of daylight at the end of the day. Mike and I love eating out on the patio in the summer, and it's nice to have the daylight. Here in the Northwest, it can be light until after 10:00 p.m. during the longest days of the year. Nevertheless, I'll admit that my sleep has been off for the past week or so. Coincidence? Probably not.<br /><br />Either way, I don't have a lot to tell you. We picked up wine from two wineries yesterday, and so that little chore is checked off the list. Today we're going to go pick up a treadmill from Erik. Is it just me, or is there something humorous about me being tired coupled with the anticipation of a treadmill coming to live at our house? Something to ponder. The weather is better today, and so this afternoon I'm hopeful we'll have time left in the day to clean out the greenhouse. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NsRC-XgltYY/VRgoG96DvXI/AAAAAAAAuMg/Bgei0B6UubI/s1600/Tomatoes%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NsRC-XgltYY/VRgoG96DvXI/AAAAAAAAuMg/Bgei0B6UubI/s1600/Tomatoes%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" height="484" width="640" /></a></div><br />The little tomato seedlings are doing well. It's interesting to me how identical seeds can grow at such different rates. Some are a full foot tall, while others are mere inches. The tallest ones are getting kind of leggy, and so they're needing to be propped up to keep them from falling over. Their stems are a little fragile for using string or wire or anything else to stake them. Usually, I try to have things moved out to the greenhouse by April 1st, and so the time is approaching fast. Also, I'd like to get my lettuce seeds started. And all of that to say that cleaning the greenhouse is moving quickly to the top of our list of priorities.<br /><br />The only other thing I've done this morning (aside from embroidery, which is always a given), is to start looking at the next block for Lisa's quilt. I've started just taking them from the top of the pile. At the top of the pile this morning was this poem and artwork from Lisa's former student Hannah:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gIoNou5SabE/VRgn5IJrLhI/AAAAAAAAuMY/CzjwScPWB9A/s1600/Hannah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gIoNou5SabE/VRgn5IJrLhI/AAAAAAAAuMY/CzjwScPWB9A/s1600/Hannah.jpg" height="640" width="494" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The original fills an entire 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, and so the challenge with this block is to fit the rectangular design into a square quilt block. As an experiment, I simply scanned it, changed its proportions, cropped it to the size I want, and Voila! One quilt block pattern created:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EPXeJybLTkE/VRgnetc8YCI/AAAAAAAAuMQ/3RZpuQLzMoQ/s1600/Hannah's%2BBlock%2BBeta1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EPXeJybLTkE/VRgnetc8YCI/AAAAAAAAuMQ/3RZpuQLzMoQ/s1600/Hannah's%2BBlock%2BBeta1.jpg" height="640" width="638" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, I put Hannah's signature at the bottom. To my eye, it doesn't look so different squished down as it is unless I hold the two side by side. I'm running it by Lisa just to be sure she's okay with the squishiness, but this seems doable to me. I'll probably machine stitch the blue and green background lines, just because it's faster than hand-stitching. Then, I'll hand stitch the rest.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before I do that, however, I want to finish up my next door for the Doors of Ireland. This door:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mN5Y2ihhjLI/VRgp-PcW_XI/AAAAAAAAuMs/Nw5-Sd6MUYk/s1600/Doors%2Bof%2BIreland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mN5Y2ihhjLI/VRgp-PcW_XI/AAAAAAAAuMs/Nw5-Sd6MUYk/s1600/Doors%2Bof%2BIreland.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>The biggest challenge with this one will be to make the lettering at the top. However, I've done it with other blocks, and I'll get it done with this one. Getting started is always the biggest challenge.<br /><br />So there you go...my Sunday in a nutshell. Guess I'll get to it.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-60514582745684015072015-03-28T13:08:00.001-07:002015-03-28T13:08:26.900-07:00Slow SaturdayWe're moving slow here at the Three Cat's Ranch. We have a few things on our agenda for the weekend: pick up a wine shipment at one of the local wineries, pick up a treadmill from Erik and Mae (they're not using it, and so they're giving it to us...yay!), clean out the greenhouse, switch out the snow tires on Mike's truck for regular tires, and, of course, sew. And pet cats. And feed cats. And otherwise attend to any needs the cats might have.<br /><br />The weather isn't really cooperating for a cleaning out the greenhouse. It's not a hard job, but it's kind of a dirty job. We're hoping we can get that done tomorrow. We'll probably wait until tomorrow to pick up the treadmill since Erik works on Saturday. As for the tires, that gets a big check mark for "Complete". As for the cats...all day, every day. As for sewing, I did accomplish some already this morning.<br /><br />I fused the label to the back of Sew Helpful. That one is finished except to hang it on the Wall of Cats.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TjKWv-xt1Pk/VRcIMrNDghI/AAAAAAAAuL0/dqh4SUAn_wg/s1600/Cory's%2BBlock%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TjKWv-xt1Pk/VRcIMrNDghI/AAAAAAAAuL0/dqh4SUAn_wg/s1600/Cory's%2BBlock%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" height="474" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, I made and finished the stitching for the block Cory submitted for Lisa's retirement quilt. Here is the block pattern created from Cory's illustration.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uUOquZFhQMI/VRcIMMQSnJI/AAAAAAAAuLw/br6odlQdWSs/s1600/Cory's%2BBlock%2BBeta.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uUOquZFhQMI/VRcIMMQSnJI/AAAAAAAAuLw/br6odlQdWSs/s1600/Cory's%2BBlock%2BBeta.JPG" height="638" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cory wanted the block on denim, but I ended up choosing a quilter's cotton with the look of worn blue denim. I had chosen a couple of fabrics, and the Resident Engineer helped me settle on this one. It's actually the wrong side of a darker blue.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xE2BX46XGxM/VRcIM_87MvI/AAAAAAAAuL8/EcC7gcJPJKA/s1600/Cory's%2BBlock%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xE2BX46XGxM/VRcIM_87MvI/AAAAAAAAuL8/EcC7gcJPJKA/s1600/Cory's%2BBlock%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" height="596" width="640" /></a></div><br />The school and the "W" in the center are machine stitched using my machine's triple stitch. The remainder is hand-stitched. Cory was a student of Lisa's.<br /><br />And that's pretty much all I've done this morning. I'm going to get ready to go and I think we'll head down to the winery for our wine shipment.<br /><br />Tomorrow I'll probably get a start on my next door for the Doors of Ireland. When I said that was the last thing on my to-do list for the month, I was wrong. I forgot that I'd committed to getting a start on my guild challenge quilt this month. There's still time left to do both things, and so that's where my sewing is headed next. I'll say more about the guild challenge when I get going on it.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-83173100369953500582015-03-27T12:29:00.000-07:002015-03-27T12:29:10.925-07:00SpringyHaving finished all but one item on my to-do list, I'm thinking of taking a break from sewing today. I have a few housekeeping items to catch up on, and of course I'm chomping at the bit...<i style="font-weight: bold;">chomping</i>, I tell you...to get at those.<br /><br />Yesterday I took another walk around the yard after filling the birdfeeders. Also, I put new "attractant" in our four yellow jacket traps. We've been told that if you put the attractant out early, you get the yellow jacket queens. The first summer we lived here, it was impossible to eat outside because of the yellow jackets pestering us. And those suckers are aggressive. Since we started putting the attractant out in March, we've had way, way, way fewer yellow jackets. The first couple of years, the traps would fill up with yellow jacket corpses, and we had to empty them fairly frequently. Now, we get almost none at all.<br /><br />So in my wandering, I noticed a few little things. For one thing, the first buds are appearing on the azaleas. We have these in all colors, and they are covered in flowers when they bloom.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XyjLdSaikl0/VRWoi8kORlI/AAAAAAAAuKQ/wchsxcx0qn0/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XyjLdSaikl0/VRWoi8kORlI/AAAAAAAAuKQ/wchsxcx0qn0/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="494" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, the first blossoms are opening on the two cherry trees.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nh2sCAPhUog/VRWoi--9QFI/AAAAAAAAuKM/Z7KwAFI4WwU/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nh2sCAPhUog/VRWoi--9QFI/AAAAAAAAuKM/Z7KwAFI4WwU/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" height="498" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then I noticed this one at the edge of the woods. This is a <a href="http://www.thurstontalk.com/2013/04/10/spring-flowering-shrubs-attract-thurston-county-hummingbirds/">red-flowering currant</a>. They are a native species to Oregon. We just happen to have one growing wild at the edge of our woods, and they are so pretty when they bloom.&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cxf57-OYrG8/VRWoiVxLANI/AAAAAAAAuKI/l_wsO3oWkRQ/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cxf57-OYrG8/VRWoiVxLANI/AAAAAAAAuKI/l_wsO3oWkRQ/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" height="468" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I suppose every part of the country has its own problems with invasive species. We have ours here in Oregon too. I think the worst offender is English Ivy. Volunteers come out in droves to eradicate it from our parks, but I'm afraid it's a losing battle. In any case, we are encouraged to plant native species. Until recently, nobody paid any attention to the wild red-flowering currant, but I've noticed them for sale in nurseries over the past five years or so. We are lucky to have our own volunteer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh! Hello there!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wDOP-9KqyY8/VRWoj71WgTI/AAAAAAAAuKg/8uVXHhKG1Tg/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wDOP-9KqyY8/VRWoj71WgTI/AAAAAAAAuKg/8uVXHhKG1Tg/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" height="460" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Recall that I've been worried about one of our clematis. I thought the ice might have done it in, but yesterday I noticed signs of life. Yay! Now to get out there and nurture this little darling. A little fertilizer would probably be welcome.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4V1RFHi5N5E/VRWokzCAK3I/AAAAAAAAuKo/ELogzhq3Lzg/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4V1RFHi5N5E/VRWokzCAK3I/AAAAAAAAuKo/ELogzhq3Lzg/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And I noticed the first buds on the hydrangea that Erik and Mae gave me for Mother's Day last year. Can't wait to see what color it will be when it flowers. Hydrangeas are very sensitive to the soil they are planted in. Soil high in iron will produce blue flowers. We've planted them in all colors, but eventually, they all turn blue. This one was a wine color when Erik and Mae gave it to me, so it'll be interesting to see what flowers it produces now that it's grown in our own soil.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dW5eVR2uUxo/VRWoleQ8cxI/AAAAAAAAuKs/IDJLTZgYc3Y/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B015%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dW5eVR2uUxo/VRWoleQ8cxI/AAAAAAAAuKs/IDJLTZgYc3Y/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B015%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="416" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And the dogwood tree has flower buds on it. When we planted this little tree, it only came up to my waist. We didn't realize how much deer relish dogwood, and they ate it practically down to the ground the first night it was planted. Oy. It was protected with a wire fence for years, but we took the fence off last year. Now it's grown way over my head. So far, we've been disappointed with the number of flowers it produces, and so we're hopeful it will do better this year. A new neighbor moved in about a year ago with five dogs. We've noticed a decrease in both deer and coyotes (not a bad thing at all), and so maybe this is the year of the dogwood.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zHuiDdIScUo/VRWomQ1A6yI/AAAAAAAAuK4/MyLntBUT9Zs/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B017%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zHuiDdIScUo/VRWomQ1A6yI/AAAAAAAAuK4/MyLntBUT9Zs/s1600/Sunny%2BDay%2B017%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Just because I'm not going to do any sewing today doesn't mean I'm not thinking about sewing. I'm getting ready to make the next block for Lisa's retirement quilt. This is what I have to work with, submitted by Cory.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tvmNdHzuEtE/VRWoWwSjkYI/AAAAAAAAuJ4/q0cMA8owUS4/s1600/Cory's%2BBlock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tvmNdHzuEtE/VRWoWwSjkYI/AAAAAAAAuJ4/q0cMA8owUS4/s1600/Cory's%2BBlock.jpg" height="494" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ah yes. Quilt blocks from non-quilters. It's a beautiful thing. Cory wants me to reproduce this block on an old pair of jeans. He even sent along the cut-off leg of some, um, unwashed jeans. I'm a little worried about using one denim block on an otherwise all quilter's cotton quilt, and so I'm afraid that's not going to happen. Nevertheless, I did go digging through my stash of blues yesterday and came up with a "layer cake" piece that sort of looked like worn out jeans. Then, this morning, I scanned, resized, and printed off my block template.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHIvYQckyhU/VRWoW2Q-PKI/AAAAAAAAuJ8/LIDseSsgdUk/s1600/Cory's%2BBlock%2BBeta.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHIvYQckyhU/VRWoW2Q-PKI/AAAAAAAAuJ8/LIDseSsgdUk/s1600/Cory's%2BBlock%2BBeta.JPG" height="638" width="640" /></a></div><br />If you can read the original up above, you can see that Cory also asked me to change the "S" in his design to a "W". So with that done, my next challenge is how to reproduce this design onto a dark blue fabric. The only way to do that, I'm afraid, is by using Sticky Fabri-Solvy. Since the "layer cake" fabric is pinked at the edges, I can leave it at it's current 12-inch size and still be able to wash out the Sticky Fabri-Solvy when I'm finished without a problem. (Okay, that's problem #1 solved.) But here's the other problem: What color floss will show up on that dark blue fabric? Cory hasn't really given me any instruction for colors, and so I guess I'll just stitch it all in pastels. I can probably do those straight lines for the school on my sewing machine. The rest will need to be hand-stitched.<br /><br />The blocks are challenging in these many ways, but I'm finding that puzzling out the problems is part of the fun. When I pull them out of the stack, I always heave a big sigh wondering how I'm going to do each one, but so far, they've turned out better than I expected. And that, of course, makes it a gratifying project to work on.<br /><br />Do you want to know what the last thing on my to-do list is? It's this Irish door:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MttAdHbAe7c/VRWutrpFOSI/AAAAAAAAuLI/CbuJBPTsfE0/s1600/Doors%2Bof%2BIreland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MttAdHbAe7c/VRWutrpFOSI/AAAAAAAAuLI/CbuJBPTsfE0/s1600/Doors%2Bof%2BIreland.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div><br />Just as I posted that picture, I was thinking I might be able to print those posters onto fabric and include them in the window. I will NOT be including the graffiti. Sheesh. This will be the 10th of twelve blocks. I can usually make one in a day, and I still have 4-1/2 days left in the month. Looks like I might earn my Bonus Points this month.<br /><br />Okay, so I'm going to get back to my chomping now. Can't wait to get at that housework. Always a pleasure. Not.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-2181901281654884642015-03-26T12:55:00.000-07:002015-03-26T12:55:20.989-07:00Charmed, I'm Sure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If the third time's a charm, then I'm here to charm you because this is my third finished quilt this month. Granted, two of them were small, but they still count, right? This morning I got to work early quilting the "Sew Helpful" quilt. It took me practically no time at all, and it was finished.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8m8QypJGmZs/VRRbLN__sSI/AAAAAAAAuIw/m8Jtyx4eH-0/s1600/Sew%2BHelpful%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8m8QypJGmZs/VRRbLN__sSI/AAAAAAAAuIw/m8Jtyx4eH-0/s1600/Sew%2BHelpful%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" height="612" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I used a design I had pinned on <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/catrancher/">Pinterest</a>. It's just a series of loops that start small and get larger. For my design, I tried doing a ascending series of six before going back to small. It was easy to do, and fairly easy to change direction, although I had to sort of turn my brain around whenever I tried. You know what I mean?&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lrOPTe-r5Oo/VRRbLZxCzUI/AAAAAAAAuIs/GksRbm7T9SQ/s1600/Sew%2BHelpful%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lrOPTe-r5Oo/VRRbLZxCzUI/AAAAAAAAuIs/GksRbm7T9SQ/s1600/Sew%2BHelpful%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Interestingly, this design is for sale in a pantograph form on a website that shall remain nameless. Really? I've been using this design for decades whenever I want to get the ink started in a ball point pen. So, really? It's actually for sale? It's reminds me of the time I got on a rant about a fabric company copyrighting polka dots. Really? (You can <a href="http://catpatches.blogspot.com/2012/07/proprietary-polka-dots.html">read my rant right here</a>,&nbsp;if you like.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Anyway...I used this variegated thread color. The gray batik was used on a larger quilt, and so I'm using scraps. I used this thread once before on the same fabric, and I liked the looks of it. And, honestly, who am I to tamper with success?</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HaePNClucK0/VRRbK-HKp5I/AAAAAAAAuIo/3vUHnyDXn_s/s1600/Sew%2BHelpful%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HaePNClucK0/VRRbK-HKp5I/AAAAAAAAuIo/3vUHnyDXn_s/s1600/Sew%2BHelpful%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="588" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And once I had it quilted, I sewed on the binding, and Voila! Three finished quilts for March.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VPp9gw8OsME/VRRbMeQ84FI/AAAAAAAAuJE/TtJsUXUK2Fc/s1600/Sew%2BHelpful%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VPp9gw8OsME/VRRbMeQ84FI/AAAAAAAAuJE/TtJsUXUK2Fc/s1600/Sew%2BHelpful%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="634" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's how it looks from the back. I simply outlined the center applique.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v9vnukQ2lCw/VRRbMyUjeVI/AAAAAAAAuJI/HvOzstVV3Sg/s1600/Sew%2BHelpful%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v9vnukQ2lCw/VRRbMyUjeVI/AAAAAAAAuJI/HvOzstVV3Sg/s1600/Sew%2BHelpful%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="632" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was my January Let's Book It Project. The pattern was called "Quilter's Helper" and it appears on the cover of this book by Carol Armstrong:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I7rdJxcbAPE/VHexdlm0AlI/AAAAAAAAqwI/ownUcJFQhGk/s1600/Block%2B011%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I7rdJxcbAPE/VHexdlm0AlI/AAAAAAAAqwI/ownUcJFQhGk/s1600/Block%2B011%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="476" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I did mine in Smitty colors.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While I was sewing on the binding, I was trying to decide whether I was going to make a label for it. When I uploaded my pictures, I discovered one I'd already made one day when I was apparently in a labeling mood.&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zhOIQY250I4/VRRbMuy4xdI/AAAAAAAAuJA/0cDT5M8hRr0/s1600/Sew%2BHelpful%2BLabel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zhOIQY250I4/VRRbMuy4xdI/AAAAAAAAuJA/0cDT5M8hRr0/s1600/Sew%2BHelpful%2BLabel.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now that's printed off and so I just need to fuse it to the back. This one is destined for the Wall of Cats in my stairwell.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Speaking of cats, Bob the Bobcat made his first appearance of the season the other day. He just strolled through the lower edge of the field out front, big as you please. He was hunting for little furry mammals, much like someone else I know...only bigger.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kAeNVPutEDc/VRRbTAXS2YI/AAAAAAAAuJY/hmk7f5j2peM/s1600/Bobcat%2B032%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kAeNVPutEDc/VRRbTAXS2YI/AAAAAAAAuJY/hmk7f5j2peM/s1600/Bobcat%2B032%2Bcopy.jpg" height="532" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I figure with that bobbed tail of his, he's pretty envious of Smitty's longish one. You know how male cats are about the length of their...er, never mind.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VTqryPcrDxM/VRRbTkYTl-I/AAAAAAAAuJc/al-y2iUe4yU/s1600/Bobcat%2B029%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VTqryPcrDxM/VRRbTkYTl-I/AAAAAAAAuJc/al-y2iUe4yU/s1600/Bobcat%2B029%2Bcopy.jpg" height="462" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We were hand-holding the camera from quite a distance away, and so the pictures aren't as sharp as they might be. Mike managed to sneak outside and used the digital zoom for these. They aren't bad.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ELXcCOEODCw/VRRbTmkZuzI/AAAAAAAAuJg/s-evusHhqkY/s1600/Bobcat%2B033%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ELXcCOEODCw/VRRbTmkZuzI/AAAAAAAAuJg/s-evusHhqkY/s1600/Bobcat%2B033%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="558" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now that we've seen him, it's tempting to mount my SLR camera with a telephoto lens and leave it set up on a tripod. It makes me nervous, however, with the catdemonium we often have going on around here.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's supposed to reach 74°F here today, but at nearly 1:00 p.m., we're still at 58°. The day is going to have to go some to reach that lofty temperature. We'll see. Nevertheless, it's a beautiful day of sunshine, and I'm going to get out and enjoy it while it lasts.</div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-7668379473214647392015-03-25T07:08:00.000-07:002015-03-25T07:08:59.856-07:00Stitching in the Wee Hours<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was one of those nights when I woke up and then couldn't get back to sleep. This may seem strange, but I actually think sewing is keeping me awake in the same way my job used to. When I wake up, I start thinking about a project I'm working on (particularly if it is challenging me in some way). Then, I just keep thinking about it until I've been awake for more than an hour. At that point, I figure I might as well get up and work on it. Fortunately, my time is my own on all but rare occasions, and so I can go back to bed after Mike leaves for work.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So what was keeping me awake last night? It was the latest block for Lisa's Retirement Quilt. Of all the blocks, I think this one has challenged me the most. Here is the block. This one was submitted by Natalie M. and her four children, Ty, Alex, Destiny, and Allyah. This is what Natalie said about the block design:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="clear: both;">It is a butterfly on a sunflower. The wings of the butterfly have the stages of the butterfly on each heart; eggs, caterpillar, cocoon, butterfly. On the edges on the wings it says "loving education transforming generations" all four of my children have been in Lisa's class and they all combined their ideas to make this design.&nbsp;</blockquote><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jZ-W7y7tdOE/VRK9JY1fWrI/AAAAAAAAuIA/xhwzIkD6r7c/s1600/Natalie%2BBeta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jZ-W7y7tdOE/VRK9JY1fWrI/AAAAAAAAuIA/xhwzIkD6r7c/s1600/Natalie%2BBeta.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was challenging for a number of reasons. I've been relying on embroidery and applique to recreate these more often than not. In this case, I was trying to figure out how I was going to get all of the layers included and still have something I could actually hand embroider through. I scanned the original design as it was submitted and then resized and cropped it to the size I wanted. For the past several days, I've had it sitting out in view where I could study it and plan my attack. Finally, it came to me that I could applique the orange and the white fabrics, leaving a gap for the yellow background to show in between. That way, I had no more than one layer of applique to stitch through on any part of the block. (I hope that makes sense.)&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here it is rendered into fabric.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gEE2iL2LDZw/VRK9JWg9vzI/AAAAAAAAuH8/vQhR3ZyYISs/s1600/Natalie's%2BBlock%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gEE2iL2LDZw/VRK9JWg9vzI/AAAAAAAAuH8/vQhR3ZyYISs/s1600/Natalie's%2BBlock%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" height="638" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The block was completely constructed before I went to bed last night, and I'd started on the embroidery. Still, while lying awake, I was thinking about stitching it and that I could finish it today, etc., etc., etc. Finally, I just got up and did it. It's hot off the needle as you see it here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But that's not all the sewing I did yesterday. I finished my project for Let's Book It and Another Little Quilt Swap 9. This is free motion machine embroidery.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7zp5RJxMBz8/VRH902mOkjI/AAAAAAAAuHM/Qqkky5OKweQ/s1600/Stitching%2Bfor%2BSpring%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7zp5RJxMBz8/VRH902mOkjI/AAAAAAAAuHM/Qqkky5OKweQ/s1600/Stitching%2Bfor%2BSpring%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" height="638" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's really no different from free motion quilting. The lines of stitching are just closer together. Here's a close-up of the stitching.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v0Fu9YsvavE/VRH903jOXnI/AAAAAAAAuHI/pasZuEM6K5g/s1600/Stitching%2Bfor%2BSpring%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v0Fu9YsvavE/VRH903jOXnI/AAAAAAAAuHI/pasZuEM6K5g/s1600/Stitching%2Bfor%2BSpring%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's how it looks from the back.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n_KxUlsi250/VRH90lwpnEI/AAAAAAAAuHE/sxZG4nlUb2I/s1600/Stitching%2Bfor%2BSpring%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n_KxUlsi250/VRH90lwpnEI/AAAAAAAAuHE/sxZG4nlUb2I/s1600/Stitching%2Bfor%2BSpring%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" height="634" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The pattern is from this book by Ann Fahl.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pAue8OmTRmo/VRH-IPnRhOI/AAAAAAAAuHs/RxelPt2ZkFE/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pAue8OmTRmo/VRH-IPnRhOI/AAAAAAAAuHs/RxelPt2ZkFE/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="498" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">She went into quite a bit of detailed and helpful instruction about how to stitch, what threads to use, what stabilizers, etc. She also suggested hooping the design to stitch it. I didn't do that. I just did it the same way I do free motion quilting, except instead of using batting, I was using a stablizer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today I'm going to go to the grocery store, but I'm hoping I'll have some time to start quilting the little Sew Helpful quilt. It shouldn't take long.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--1XDLMCKgDk/VRLBEo4mneI/AAAAAAAAuIQ/HYTxGw36dCQ/s1600/Quilter's%2BHelper%2B029%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--1XDLMCKgDk/VRLBEo4mneI/AAAAAAAAuIQ/HYTxGw36dCQ/s1600/Quilter's%2BHelper%2B029%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="630" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's next on my list of things to do for the month. There is still a week left in the month, and I have just two things left on my to-do list. I think I'm going to make it easily. And hopefully, I'll be able to get some more sleep.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Do you have any projects keeping you awake at night? It isn't necessarily a bad thing.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-26902509795561997082015-03-24T11:04:00.001-07:002015-03-24T11:04:44.122-07:00Budding Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It rained most of the day yesterday, and so I didn't venture out to fill the bird feeders until this morning. The sun was shining for a little while, but I notice that it's clouding up again now, and I believe more rain is expected. That's okay. No complaints from this blogger about the lovely warm winter we just had.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While I was out, I wandered around a little to get a look at what the beginning of Sping hath wrought. Lots of things are budding out, just on the verge of blooming. A nice warm day will bring those flowers out. For one thing, the wisteria at the front door is loaded with buds, and this one is just starting to open.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vmVpMbIpOQc/VRGcNwXw46I/AAAAAAAAuEg/RtWHBa1VoWQ/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vmVpMbIpOQc/VRGcNwXw46I/AAAAAAAAuEg/RtWHBa1VoWQ/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" height="454" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our one surviving clematis is covered in purple blossoms now. This is about as much as these do...staying as little purple pouches. I'm afraid the clematis around the corner from this one has died. Oh well. They're pretty fragile, and I'm pretty sure the ice back in November did it in. That just means this one will have to bloom harder to make up for it.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MqHnOfNI5WM/VRGcOirlDhI/AAAAAAAAuEs/nl_h6b91IcY/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MqHnOfNI5WM/VRGcOirlDhI/AAAAAAAAuEs/nl_h6b91IcY/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you've been following for a while, then you know all about my tulip woes. What the deer didn't eat, the squirrels did...except for a few clumps of white ones. Nobody seems to bother those, for some strange reason, and so I have a few white ones that bloom year after year.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UiCo_DUVwic/VRGcP6twVXI/AAAAAAAAuFA/yc3HXcj3FkA/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B015%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UiCo_DUVwic/VRGcP6twVXI/AAAAAAAAuFA/yc3HXcj3FkA/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B015%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="446" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is the hydrangea that Erik and Mae gave me last Mother's Day/Birthday. It's one of the prettiest ones I've ever seen.&nbsp;When it finished blooming last year, we planted it outside. This is always risky, of course, because often our winter weather will kill fresh plantings. We had a week of ice in November, and I worried about it, but here it is...all lush and healthy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X6seVp6IAOQ/VRGcP7UbTbI/AAAAAAAAuE0/7ULkFAEEKvc/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B018%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X6seVp6IAOQ/VRGcP7UbTbI/AAAAAAAAuE0/7ULkFAEEKvc/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B018%2Bcopy.jpg" height="562" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">&nbsp;Here's how it looks when it blooms...the flowers are the most beautiful wine color:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-didTGfvNgOg/U2j_P8dYRAI/AAAAAAAAkjM/3X3BkdxhGh4/s1600/60th+Birthday+022+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-didTGfvNgOg/U2j_P8dYRAI/AAAAAAAAkjM/3X3BkdxhGh4/s1600/60th+Birthday+022+copy.jpg" height="458" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don't see any flowers on it, but I don't see any on the more established ones either. I'm thinking this one is a go.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, the Daphne has some flowers on it. This one is always knocked back severely by cold weather. Despite the ice, it seems pretty good this year. Probably it's the extended cold temperatures that hurt it more than a short stint. It was planted several years ago, and it never makes more than a few flowers. I keep hoping it will take off one of these years.&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bpXrnr0jq6I/VRGcQPFZVwI/AAAAAAAAuE4/Sp7mUuboLH8/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B019%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bpXrnr0jq6I/VRGcQPFZVwI/AAAAAAAAuE4/Sp7mUuboLH8/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B019%2Bcopy.jpg" height="488" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then there is this lilac, which was planted several years back. It too was a Mother's Day gift. We were out to breakfast and some women were selling these dug up ones from their yard for $10. Ours at home had died, and so we bought one and planted it. It hasn't yet bloomed profusely, but it always blooms a little. I keep hoping it will take off and be a better bloomer one of these springs.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9HvChHdERFU/VRGcRsVLxhI/AAAAAAAAuFM/1-AU_6Nk6lk/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B020%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9HvChHdERFU/VRGcRsVLxhI/AAAAAAAAuFM/1-AU_6Nk6lk/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B020%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh! Here's the newest yard art piece. It's a little stained glass cat I found while shopping on Etsy one day. I wasn't looking for it, but cats have a way of finding me. Anyway, I put it where the catnip grows, although the catnip has yet to make an appearance this year. I might need to replant.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YVzTdPy3K1w/VRGcSVlDutI/AAAAAAAAuFQ/oY0GBgeuE_E/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B022%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YVzTdPy3K1w/VRGcSVlDutI/AAAAAAAAuFQ/oY0GBgeuE_E/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B022%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="492" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Just a few weeks ago, I showed you a picture of the Bleeding Heart just peeking above ground. Now it has its first flowers. I'm absolutely amazed at how well this one does despite being neglected terribly.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qnaSCFvrDRA/VRGcTf97RnI/AAAAAAAAuFc/uCrlndJcxwE/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B023%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qnaSCFvrDRA/VRGcTf97RnI/AAAAAAAAuFc/uCrlndJcxwE/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B023%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Andromeda is getting ready to put on its best show of the year. It has its white flowers, but the red leaves have yet to open. A warm day is all it needs at this point.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pXAJJHWho30/VRGcUyq8XYI/AAAAAAAAuFw/G295FVxmpiE/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B024%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pXAJJHWho30/VRGcUyq8XYI/AAAAAAAAuFw/G295FVxmpiE/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B024%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And the rosemary is blooming. I've had difficulty getting these to come back year after year, although in warmer climates and lower elevations, it is a perennial. I cultivate rosemary in my culinary herb garden year after year, and it almost always dies over the winter. For some reason, the hardy soul has lived on three years running now.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iKXt-v5V1aY/VRGcUfcXRnI/AAAAAAAAuFk/Gay6eGOl_g0/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B028%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iKXt-v5V1aY/VRGcUfcXRnI/AAAAAAAAuFk/Gay6eGOl_g0/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B028%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let's see...what else? Oh. The cherry trees are getting ready to bloom. Very soon now they'll be covered in pink flowers.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1j-U2B7WinI/VRGcU6yAd6I/AAAAAAAAuFo/kKzce4qsiOQ/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B029%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1j-U2B7WinI/VRGcU6yAd6I/AAAAAAAAuFo/kKzce4qsiOQ/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B029%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="496" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Speaking of hardy souls, here's a cat outstanding in his field. (Ha! An old joke, but I'm old too, so who cares?)</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WJqVswknTrE/VRGcWPeXQhI/AAAAAAAAuF8/v47AG9ncE8Y/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B034%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WJqVswknTrE/VRGcWPeXQhI/AAAAAAAAuF8/v47AG9ncE8Y/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B034%2Bcopy.jpg" height="490" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Okay, so that's the end of the garden tour for one day. I couldn't end it without showing you my blooming cat, now could I?&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yesterday, I cleaned up my wreck of a house. It looks pretty good now. There was a little time at the end of the day, and so I put the label on the Psycatdelic quilt. It still needs a hanging sleeve because I'm entering it in the fair this year. Fortunately, I still have a little of that Laurel Burch fabric left.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-84tDZuI123M/VRGcLO-4kkI/AAAAAAAAuEA/iU2EhdGhr1c/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-84tDZuI123M/VRGcLO-4kkI/AAAAAAAAuEA/iU2EhdGhr1c/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" height="502" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm very happy with a new product I've found for printing labels on fabric. It's this one by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blumenthal-Lansing-Crafters-100-Percent-100-Inch/dp/B000F3HMWQ/ref=sr_1_9?s=arts-crafts&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1427218705&amp;sr=1-9&amp;keywords=printable+fabric">Blumenthal Lansing</a>. It comes on a roll 8.5 inches wide and 100 inches long. I cut strips 6 inches wide, and then cut them in half for a piece 4.25 x 6 inches, and that will fit in the photo paper tray of my ink jet printer. It comes in a cotton twill...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tXBdX5sml8M/VRGhpShO-II/AAAAAAAAuGQ/FGzV1Cnqwos/s1600/Capture2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tXBdX5sml8M/VRGhpShO-II/AAAAAAAAuGQ/FGzV1Cnqwos/s1600/Capture2.JPG" height="223" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">and a cotton poplin. When I first tried this, I didn't realize there were two different kinds, and so I purchased the twill. It's a little heavier and less dense than the poplin, and so it's a little easier to hand stitch through. I bought another roll of the poplin as well, just to give it a try. There isn't a lot of difference between the two. The poplin is a more dense weave like a batik. It really just comes down to the look and feel you prefer.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RR7mhaxOjZw/VRGhpJglJlI/AAAAAAAAuGM/M-ZIODiZdLo/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RR7mhaxOjZw/VRGhpJglJlI/AAAAAAAAuGM/M-ZIODiZdLo/s1600/Capture.JPG" height="228" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>After printing the picture, I attach these to a fusing medium (I like Heat 'n Bond Lite), trim them with a pinking blade and then they're ready to fuse to the back of your quilt. Interestingly, the first time I tried the poplin variety, the fusing medium didn't take. It stuck to the back of the poplin all right; but when I tried to fuse it to my quilt back, the sticky stuff stuck to the quilt, but came clean off the poplin. I had a nice little fabric label in my hand and fusing medium on my quilt. Well. That was disconcerting, and I haven't wanted to try it again.<br /><br />Which brings me to my next product review, this 606 spray, cousin of 505. I like 505 for binding quilts when they are small enough. This 606 is actually a heavier fusible that sprays to the back of the piece you want to fuse. Then you iron it like anything else. It works like a champ, and so that's what I've been using for these labels. It's also an excellent emergency back-up product when your fusing medium just doesn't work like it's supposed to.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UN30-pEMpVE/VRGcL01TkiI/AAAAAAAAuEQ/wfn4CWyfBnA/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UN30-pEMpVE/VRGcL01TkiI/AAAAAAAAuEQ/wfn4CWyfBnA/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="314" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'll warn you, however, that unless you absolutely don't care about the surface you're spraying on, you'll want to put down newspaper, or parchment, or something. I sprayed this on our back patio once, and it left a mark all around the edges of the piece. That stuff is still there a year later. Needless to say, don't eat it either.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So with that done, I was ready to get started on my Let's Book It project for the month.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RjlxTzIpDvc/VM_Fqx-jmoI/AAAAAAAAsj8/9yVhH8QA0L4/s1600/images1V803DBA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RjlxTzIpDvc/VM_Fqx-jmoI/AAAAAAAAsj8/9yVhH8QA0L4/s1600/images1V803DBA.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And since I'm running seriously short on time, I'm hopeful I can use this as my project for</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GXJ6X2RJiuo/VJHoI26H4jI/AAAAAAAArP0/L7l6-I4Cco4/s1600/alqs9%2Blogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GXJ6X2RJiuo/VJHoI26H4jI/AAAAAAAArP0/L7l6-I4Cco4/s1600/alqs9%2Blogo.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">as well. I need to submit my project by April 7th. This month, I'm trying a project from this book by Ann Fahl:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VIa48uZPGSs/VRGcK-hwpuI/AAAAAAAAuD8/q5mHjaHedmo/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VIa48uZPGSs/VRGcK-hwpuI/AAAAAAAAuD8/q5mHjaHedmo/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="498" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have tons of variegated threads, and so I'm doing this project:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QF60lyx34Y4/VRGcLL6Tw-I/AAAAAAAAuEE/_usGv5jJUcY/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QF60lyx34Y4/VRGcLL6Tw-I/AAAAAAAAuEE/_usGv5jJUcY/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="450" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yesterday, I finished all the applique, and I got a good start on the stitching. This is essentially free motion embroidery. I finished the leaves, stems, and the blue flower. Today, I should be able to finish the remaining two flowers and then I'll be able to get it ready for quilting.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-be0F0XfnMJ8/VRGcNraykoI/AAAAAAAAuEc/B1sPt0RL9MI/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-be0F0XfnMJ8/VRGcNraykoI/AAAAAAAAuEc/B1sPt0RL9MI/s1600/Thread%2BPainting%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" height="600" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In her example, it looks as if she chose a more multi-colored thread. I've chosen threads that are more or less the color of the applique piece. No reason, other than using the threads I have. It's going pretty well so far, I think.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And that's all I have for you today. I'm just going to get on with my stitching and possibly get this near to a finish.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What's on your Tuesday agenda?</div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-7396988151059798862015-03-23T12:25:00.001-07:002015-03-23T12:25:48.207-07:00A Weekend UnpluggedWe arrived home from our family get-together weekend yesterday afternoon. Everything at home was as we left it, which is always a good thing. Our family get-together was wonderful. There was no cell phone service, nor any internet, and so we spent the weekend talking, eating good food, playing a few games, hiking, and more than anything, laughing.<br /><br />Mike and I headed out around noon Friday toward central Oregon. It's a pretty drive over the Santiam Pass. Central Oregon boasts several mountains, and Mt. Washington can be seen poking over the horizon.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-akhcous0Q5g/VRAzetYT_tI/AAAAAAAAt-I/IZtZX7DcPYk/s1600/Nikon%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-akhcous0Q5g/VRAzetYT_tI/AAAAAAAAt-I/IZtZX7DcPYk/s1600/Nikon%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We arrived around 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The house we'd rented on Tumalo Lake was lovely, and perfect for our needs.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xlua94LZ6Zc/VRAzoXW-8HI/AAAAAAAAt_s/Iy7_R7JeZQY/s1600/Nikon%2B031%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xlua94LZ6Zc/VRAzoXW-8HI/AAAAAAAAt_s/Iy7_R7JeZQY/s1600/Nikon%2B031%2Bcopy.jpg" height="418" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Everyone had their own room and bathroom. When we came through the front door and looked to the right, this is what we saw. A fire was already burning in the wood stove.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KvoOEQcmIfY/VRAzf9K81SI/AAAAAAAAt-Y/ywUe1tUZrHs/s1600/Nikon%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KvoOEQcmIfY/VRAzf9K81SI/AAAAAAAAt-Y/ywUe1tUZrHs/s1600/Nikon%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To the left was a little window seat, which was nice for putting on and taking off wet boots and coats. We expected snow on the ground, but found only a few little patches.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-stUuN_l234E/VRAzg3SMFuI/AAAAAAAAt-c/FFy3JsWfAmU/s1600/Nikon%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-stUuN_l234E/VRAzg3SMFuI/AAAAAAAAt-c/FFy3JsWfAmU/s1600/Nikon%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There was a huge deck wrapping around the front of the house with gorgeous cedar beams. There was pretty wood carpentry throughout the house.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ARVt90ygdTM/VRAzhGkbAMI/AAAAAAAAt-k/v93GSgyFvwY/s1600/Nikon%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ARVt90ygdTM/VRAzhGkbAMI/AAAAAAAAt-k/v93GSgyFvwY/s1600/Nikon%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" height="526" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As we walked around to the other side of the deck, we found the hot tub and a huge stack of firewood. There was also a gas grill.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rjQUORppN-Y/VRAzmkBNoqI/AAAAAAAAt_c/8mWiO-hU_vc/s1600/Nikon%2B026%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rjQUORppN-Y/VRAzmkBNoqI/AAAAAAAAt_c/8mWiO-hU_vc/s1600/Nikon%2B026%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We brought our own food and cooked it there. The kitchen was a lot tidier before Mike and I hauled in all of our crap.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dNOkErufPfg/VRAzh1Wg9II/AAAAAAAAt-w/q8cQs2j2oDc/s1600/Nikon%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dNOkErufPfg/VRAzh1Wg9II/AAAAAAAAt-w/q8cQs2j2oDc/s1600/Nikon%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There was a comfortable living room on the lower level.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hr_J2-bjOSY/VRAziWmSwJI/AAAAAAAAt-0/TTW1bZRK_60/s1600/Nikon%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hr_J2-bjOSY/VRAziWmSwJI/AAAAAAAAt-0/TTW1bZRK_60/s1600/Nikon%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The lower level had one bedroom. The doors on the far wall led out to the hot tub.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pM0lPjhjgEQ/VRAzjVxgLhI/AAAAAAAAt_A/4Y8iXtgTXWI/s1600/Nikon%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pM0lPjhjgEQ/VRAzjVxgLhI/AAAAAAAAt_A/4Y8iXtgTXWI/s1600/Nikon%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There was another seating area on the upper level.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Z1OlLeFuLI/VRAzkHsee8I/AAAAAAAAt_I/LdSNlxGdNfY/s1600/Nikon%2B015%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Z1OlLeFuLI/VRAzkHsee8I/AAAAAAAAt_I/LdSNlxGdNfY/s1600/Nikon%2B015%2Bcopy.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And two more bedrooms, each with its own full bathroom.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XQ3rfkbylKQ/VRAzk4S72wI/AAAAAAAAt_M/m3taFYraMXs/s1600/Nikon%2B018%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XQ3rfkbylKQ/VRAzk4S72wI/AAAAAAAAt_M/m3taFYraMXs/s1600/Nikon%2B018%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z1w7td6cRzA/VRAzmDdwWZI/AAAAAAAAt_Y/szKqfxqtnLQ/s1600/Nikon%2B020%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z1w7td6cRzA/VRAzmDdwWZI/AAAAAAAAt_Y/szKqfxqtnLQ/s1600/Nikon%2B020%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I finished stitching the binding on Psycatdelic the first night there, which was convenient since I had lots of hands to hold it up for its picture.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WYNOzjbVkJU/VRAznQqx-sI/AAAAAAAAt_o/kFR_MMKanO4/s1600/Nikon%2B030%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WYNOzjbVkJU/VRAznQqx-sI/AAAAAAAAt_o/kFR_MMKanO4/s1600/Nikon%2B030%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="540" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rain was in the forecast for the weekend, but the weather couldn't have been nicer. We had beautiful weather Saturday. After breakfast, we hiked the 2-mile loop around Tumalo Lake. There's Mae checking out the water's edge.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n82iuvojGR8/VRAzpNXto8I/AAAAAAAAt_0/SEFFqs15wps/s1600/Nikon%2B033%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n82iuvojGR8/VRAzpNXto8I/AAAAAAAAt_0/SEFFqs15wps/s1600/Nikon%2B033%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="428" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here are the Stanbro Men.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ERUpSDvMY_g/VRAzpddcffI/AAAAAAAAt_8/4JPQAiRhVrY/s1600/Nikon%2B035%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ERUpSDvMY_g/VRAzpddcffI/AAAAAAAAt_8/4JPQAiRhVrY/s1600/Nikon%2B035%2Bcopy.jpg" height="448" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The forest here appears to have been clear cut and replanted some time ago. There was some old growth, however.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1zAUuDhNclE/VRA228eNoZI/AAAAAAAAuCg/Gu_8uZMOMN4/s1600/Nikon%2B038%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1zAUuDhNclE/VRA228eNoZI/AAAAAAAAuCg/Gu_8uZMOMN4/s1600/Nikon%2B038%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>&nbsp;It was a fairly easy hike.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jTWwW2IqWEc/VRAzqEhVdjI/AAAAAAAAuAE/8YUOsv_mjqw/s1600/Nikon%2B037%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jTWwW2IqWEc/VRAzqEhVdjI/AAAAAAAAuAE/8YUOsv_mjqw/s1600/Nikon%2B037%2Bcopy.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tumalo Lake is a small lake, essentially a low spot in the ground, fed by snow melt from several creeks.&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-65ohv5YYITE/VRAzr2XAikI/AAAAAAAAuAQ/A2iXYbjEp0Y/s1600/Nikon%2B040%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-65ohv5YYITE/VRAzr2XAikI/AAAAAAAAuAQ/A2iXYbjEp0Y/s1600/Nikon%2B040%2Bcopy.jpg" height="482" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We passed by this one downed tree...a big one.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IEVKhHhKqr4/VRAzsrF3dTI/AAAAAAAAuAU/G4j2uD3B7ZQ/s1600/Nikon%2B044%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IEVKhHhKqr4/VRAzsrF3dTI/AAAAAAAAuAU/G4j2uD3B7ZQ/s1600/Nikon%2B044%2Bcopy.jpg" height="470" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When we reached the far side of the lake, we were in the sun.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UfLhO6fs6hI/VRAzs9GWx0I/AAAAAAAAuAk/JgTEnPNyXWg/s1600/Nikon%2B045%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UfLhO6fs6hI/VRAzs9GWx0I/AAAAAAAAuAk/JgTEnPNyXWg/s1600/Nikon%2B045%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="430" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The temperatures were a little chilly, but the exertion warmed us, and the sun felt good.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vZ5FEclDow0/VRAztXJK1GI/AAAAAAAAuAg/2ue296t_xfk/s1600/Nikon%2B046%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vZ5FEclDow0/VRAztXJK1GI/AAAAAAAAuAg/2ue296t_xfk/s1600/Nikon%2B046%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="432" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Brothers Stanbro</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2AN6SpphsMk/VRAzuDtUtVI/AAAAAAAAuA0/kR0BQynfh7E/s1600/Nikon%2B049%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2AN6SpphsMk/VRAzuDtUtVI/AAAAAAAAuA0/kR0BQynfh7E/s1600/Nikon%2B049%2Bcopy.jpg" height="450" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our cabin was at the far end of a dead end road, and the loop trail extended beyond the end of the road. When we got to the far side of the lake, we could see our cabin.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C6GRgLO9acs/VRAzvu2zikI/AAAAAAAAuA8/2mSmrhAvQ0E/s1600/Nikon%2B050%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C6GRgLO9acs/VRAzvu2zikI/AAAAAAAAuA8/2mSmrhAvQ0E/s1600/Nikon%2B050%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When we'd hiked about 3/4 of the way, we had this view of the lake and mountains beyond.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--nLca20YzZI/VRAzv67Vd9I/AAAAAAAAuBA/YudGAMgFZbg/s1600/Nikon%2B055%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--nLca20YzZI/VRAzv67Vd9I/AAAAAAAAuBA/YudGAMgFZbg/s1600/Nikon%2B055%2Bcopy.jpg" height="450" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There were canoes provided, but the owner recommended not going out onto the lake. He explained that it had only recently thawed from being iced over for the winter, and so the water was approximately 40 degrees...a quick case of hypothermia awaited anybody who capsized a canoe.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vGE62rGc3A0/VRAzwROfxgI/AAAAAAAAuBI/rgLWLsDV_OQ/s1600/Nikon%2B058%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vGE62rGc3A0/VRAzwROfxgI/AAAAAAAAuBI/rgLWLsDV_OQ/s1600/Nikon%2B058%2Bcopy.jpg" height="472" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had my macro lens along, but we only saw one blooming thing along the trail.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xjUmki39E0s/VRAzejj6ZbI/AAAAAAAAt-A/aiCXUJAGuLI/s1600/Macro%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xjUmki39E0s/VRAzejj6ZbI/AAAAAAAAt-A/aiCXUJAGuLI/s1600/Macro%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" height="472" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When we'd finished our hike, Erik and I drove the 15 miles into Bend to the Bend Brewing Company where he picked up some beer.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tyaz9Y457mo/VRAzxxDCbiI/AAAAAAAAuBU/sb6vfmrZQVQ/s1600/Nikon%2B061%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tyaz9Y457mo/VRAzxxDCbiI/AAAAAAAAuBU/sb6vfmrZQVQ/s1600/Nikon%2B061%2Bcopy.jpg" height="492" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the way back to the cabin, we had a good view of the Three Sisters.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4TPJcjRaTzo/VRAzyzYBI8I/AAAAAAAAuBc/OIy_h6vhJ_A/s1600/Nikon%2B062%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4TPJcjRaTzo/VRAzyzYBI8I/AAAAAAAAuBc/OIy_h6vhJ_A/s1600/Nikon%2B062%2Bcopy.jpg" height="522" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We found Mike relaxing in the small bit of sunshine that fell on the front deck.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A0ZPKm900N8/VRAzzc0bWDI/AAAAAAAAuBg/C3vZ8f2-3yU/s1600/Nikon%2B066%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A0ZPKm900N8/VRAzzc0bWDI/AAAAAAAAuBg/C3vZ8f2-3yU/s1600/Nikon%2B066%2Bcopy.jpg" height="490" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We ended up moving all of our chairs to the far side of the house where the sun was comfortably warm, but intense.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MqwzrJyWabA/VRAzzxH9--I/AAAAAAAAuBo/v2DwbtXxrFk/s1600/Nikon%2B068%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MqwzrJyWabA/VRAzzxH9--I/AAAAAAAAuBo/v2DwbtXxrFk/s1600/Nikon%2B068%2Bcopy.jpg" height="468" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D8QZiWgnc7c/VRAz0gH9dUI/AAAAAAAAuB0/JKANQdwog_o/s1600/Nikon%2B073%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D8QZiWgnc7c/VRAz0gH9dUI/AAAAAAAAuB0/JKANQdwog_o/s1600/Nikon%2B073%2Bcopy.jpg" height="452" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Later in the afternoon, the sun shining through the leaves caught my attention.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H3QyGn28JOY/VRAze6WyosI/AAAAAAAAt-E/fSj4i5d9XMU/s1600/Macro%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H3QyGn28JOY/VRAze6WyosI/AAAAAAAAt-E/fSj4i5d9XMU/s1600/Macro%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="466" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Everyone took a turn in the kitchen, and since it was in full view of the living room, we laughed and critiqued the knife skills of each "performer" Food Network style.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JNXUT4wYYDw/VRAz1-wsbHI/AAAAAAAAuB8/0DUuIpCKyC4/s1600/Nikon%2B086%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JNXUT4wYYDw/VRAz1-wsbHI/AAAAAAAAuB8/0DUuIpCKyC4/s1600/Nikon%2B086%2Bcopy.jpg" height="518" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mae did all the prep work for Sunday's breakfast of huevos rancheros. Mike made margaritas.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gGl4E5N0tV0/VRAz2UUJYNI/AAAAAAAAuCA/KM2sT00T2ss/s1600/Nikon%2B087%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gGl4E5N0tV0/VRAz2UUJYNI/AAAAAAAAuCA/KM2sT00T2ss/s1600/Nikon%2B087%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Matthew and Valerie hammed for the camera.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AK8Z-oM2jOA/VRAz21VgioI/AAAAAAAAuCI/ezzz-tlWeUw/s1600/Nikon%2B097%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AK8Z-oM2jOA/VRAz21VgioI/AAAAAAAAuCI/ezzz-tlWeUw/s1600/Nikon%2B097%2Bcopy.jpg" height="456" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We had a wonderful dinner of grilled steaks, baked potatoes, and Valerie's beet risotto, which was delicious.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When we awakened Sunday morning, it was snowing. By the time we checked out at 11:00, it was already melted.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x2GV-Kkb8Io/VRAz39XJ9RI/AAAAAAAAuCU/UYGaucB79ns/s1600/Nikon%2B098%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x2GV-Kkb8Io/VRAz39XJ9RI/AAAAAAAAuCU/UYGaucB79ns/s1600/Nikon%2B098%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><br />And then we headed for home. This weekend was an experiment. We decided not to exchange gifts last Christmas, and instead to pool our money into a weekend together. It was a lot of fun, and I expect this will become a family tradition.<br /><br />And now it's time to choose a winner in my giveaway. Mr. Random has spoken and selected:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Legato1958</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks to all who visited during the blog hop.<br /><br />In addition to finishing the binding on my quilt this past weekend, I did a fair amount of stitching on the Gingerbread Square block. This morning I finished the last of it. This is the second of nine blocks.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WSbDMm9X11Q/VRBlU8UGP7I/AAAAAAAAuC0/Qa0xyEPo7Xc/s1600/Gingerbread%2BSquare%2B011%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WSbDMm9X11Q/VRBlU8UGP7I/AAAAAAAAuC0/Qa0xyEPo7Xc/s1600/Gingerbread%2BSquare%2B011%2Bcopy.jpg" height="522" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fun, huh? The next time I work on this one, I'll be stitching the Holly Garland House.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKMX2iTZ87M/VRBlU9wDdPI/AAAAAAAAuCw/Fb40L9ywo6A/s1600/Gingerbread%2BSquare%2B014%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKMX2iTZ87M/VRBlU9wDdPI/AAAAAAAAuCw/Fb40L9ywo6A/s1600/Gingerbread%2BSquare%2B014%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="516" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As long as I had that one finished, I made up the 9th of ten stitcheries for the Vintage Tin quilt. This is the largest of the ten stitcheries. When it's finished, it will be trimmed to 24.5 x 16 inches.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SG-JBnY8x0k/VRBlVD8rjyI/AAAAAAAAuC8/FrTtwDSMWXA/s1600/Gingerbread%2BSquare%2B017%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SG-JBnY8x0k/VRBlVD8rjyI/AAAAAAAAuC8/FrTtwDSMWXA/s1600/Gingerbread%2BSquare%2B017%2Bcopy.jpg" height="376" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These are so large and complicated that I've been using Sticky Fabri-Solvy for the transfers. This one took four sheets with just a little bit of overlap. Unfortunately, it's hard to keep the sheets from shifting when it's hooped, and so I always start stitching where they come together. You can see in this image below that this one is already shifting a little.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tf2kfq1Kp00/VRBlWBIrpJI/AAAAAAAAuDE/tZbAx1Oyg9M/s1600/Gingerbread%2BSquare%2B018%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tf2kfq1Kp00/VRBlWBIrpJI/AAAAAAAAuDE/tZbAx1Oyg9M/s1600/Gingerbread%2BSquare%2B018%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">By leaving plenty of overlap, I can adjust my stitches as I need to without hurting the design at all.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally, I'm getting ready to make the 9th block for Lisa's Retirement Quilt. This one is a little hard to read, and so I'm waiting for Lisa to get back to me with answers to some questions.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--2gn_uRuS20/VRBmXH8AXvI/AAAAAAAAuDQ/pGR5q5oRskA/s1600/Natalie%2BBeta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--2gn_uRuS20/VRBmXH8AXvI/AAAAAAAAuDQ/pGR5q5oRskA/s1600/Natalie%2BBeta.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm still considering the best way to do this, but I think it will be a combination of embroidery, applique, and perhaps a little coloring.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But before I can do anything more in the sewing room today, I absolutely must do something about the wreck I used to call our home. Being gone for the weekend means things have "slid" a little...and that's putting it mildly. And now that I have you all caught up, I'm going to go do some catching up myself.</div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-33513999543502954012015-03-20T00:00:00.000-07:002015-03-20T07:30:37.823-07:00Welcome to the Meet and Greet Blog Hop! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jt4gjCrTajA/VOur-qBJL0I/AAAAAAAAq2s/v_JbNTcnJFE/s1600/meet%2Band%2Bgreet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jt4gjCrTajA/VOur-qBJL0I/AAAAAAAAq2s/v_JbNTcnJFE/s1600/meet%2Band%2Bgreet.png" height="304" width="320" /></a></div>Well, hey there! Thanks for stopping by! I've got the place all spruced up for you, and it's lovely to see you! I'm one of the stitchers participating in the Meet and Greet Blog Hop...international, baby! A big thank you goes to our Lady of Blog Hops, Madam Samm for organizing and hosting this event. I hope you'll visit the other participants as well. You can see the list <a href="http://www.sewwequilt.com/2015/03/meet-and-greet-with-mdm-samm.html">right here</a>. As a person partial to hand embroidery, I've pulled out some of my favorite projects to show you today, so let's get started.<br /><br />When I was much, much younger, I did a lot of needle point and crewel embroidery. When my kids were born, I took a lengthy, shall we say, leave of absence from all kinds of stitching. I didn't actually learn to quilt until I retired in 2008. Very shortly thereafter, I became acquainted with the world of embroidered quilts. The first one I saw hanging in a quilt shop was "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" redwork by Crabapple Hill. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it, but all that embroidery was very intimidating. I saw it again in the same quilt shop and admired it out loud to one of the owners. &nbsp;She told me she'd seen it done in blue and that it was beautiful. &nbsp;That made it even more desirable to me, but I was still intimidated by the hand work. Then I saw it again in yet a different quilt shop, and I couldn't resist it any longer. I ended up purchasing the pattern. Third time's a charm right?<br /><br />Once I got started on it, I quickly became hooked on a daily dose of hand-stitching, and so this quilt is just the first of many, many hand-embroidered projects.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XS-vcIDcnS8/VQrzTLHaBEI/AAAAAAAAt64/y0nrZpwE7lo/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XS-vcIDcnS8/VQrzTLHaBEI/AAAAAAAAt64/y0nrZpwE7lo/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="552" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My talented long arm quilter was Tammi Ortega who used a pearlescent thread to quilt large snowflakes onto the quilt. Also, I embellished some of the snowflakes with hot fix crystals.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VI6oSrv96vE/VQrzTgj2UmI/AAAAAAAAt68/G4fguZoC1Sk/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VI6oSrv96vE/VQrzTgj2UmI/AAAAAAAAt68/G4fguZoC1Sk/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My favorite block is this one with the snow lady hanging candy canes on her clothesline to dry.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iuH0AkBid1Q/VQrzUv_soJI/AAAAAAAAt7M/yyLwnx2vpGg/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iuH0AkBid1Q/VQrzUv_soJI/AAAAAAAAt7M/yyLwnx2vpGg/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Coincidentally, while I was working on the Winter Wonderland quilt, I was in the process of working on a block of the month quilt designed by Lynette Anderson, called, "A Kitten's Tale". When I purchased the kit, I thought it was going to be fusible applique. Little did I know there would be so much hand embroidery involved, and so I like to say that I cut my embroidery teeth on this one. It was quite a challenge for a novice embroiderer to be doing satin stitch through fusible applique. Nevertheless, I got it done, and this is one of my favorite quilts. It hangs in my family room now.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AYGnQ117vb0/VQrzVkLgnWI/AAAAAAAAt7U/mZchYclMvQc/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B014%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AYGnQ117vb0/VQrzVkLgnWI/AAAAAAAAt7U/mZchYclMvQc/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B014%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="546" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As a new quilter, this was also my first time making yo-yo's. These are about the size of a dime.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5V4ooGKDe4I/VQrzWBUluzI/AAAAAAAAt7Y/Cum4CfTbGCE/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B015%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5V4ooGKDe4I/VQrzWBUluzI/AAAAAAAAt7Y/Cum4CfTbGCE/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B015%2Bcopy.jpg" height="594" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's that dastardly satin stitch through applique. Sheesh. A thimble comes in handy.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sRPs9xVQhXY/VQrzWRMoF9I/AAAAAAAAt7c/QEjPz34nP-4/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B016%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sRPs9xVQhXY/VQrzWRMoF9I/AAAAAAAAt7c/QEjPz34nP-4/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B016%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="612" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tammi Ortega did the quilting on this one too. You can see why I was saddened when Tammi sold her business and returned to the traditional work force.&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eyvXzOvbFTc/VQrzXXUK8LI/AAAAAAAAt7s/D7TCqoCicrM/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B017%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eyvXzOvbFTc/VQrzXXUK8LI/AAAAAAAAt7s/D7TCqoCicrM/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B017%2Bcopy.jpg" height="534" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is sweet quilt was created with Lynette Anderson's very own cat and dog in mind. And here they are:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-80JdyXHRKk0/T4Bm6Ce3_zI/AAAAAAAAISQ/yozwgnGRSbs/s640/HFon-quilt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-80JdyXHRKk0/T4Bm6Ce3_zI/AAAAAAAAISQ/yozwgnGRSbs/s640/HFon-quilt.jpg" height="640" width="392" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As a cat lover, I'm very familiar with this next scene. What cat owner hasn't gone to sit down in their favorite chair and found it already occupied?</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ksDqefmTZDs/VQrzY7y68aI/AAAAAAAAt70/7El9vRB4N6Q/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B018%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ksDqefmTZDs/VQrzY7y68aI/AAAAAAAAt70/7El9vRB4N6Q/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B018%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This next quilt is another one of my favorite quilts ever, called "A Day in the Life of Mr. Bear". It was designed by Tricia Cribbs. It's the story of a little girl's day with her best friend.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tNW7Vl1wrvY/VQrzY8uIdvI/AAAAAAAAt74/nNUFpMLQIKk/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B019%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tNW7Vl1wrvY/VQrzY8uIdvI/AAAAAAAAt74/nNUFpMLQIKk/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B019%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="582" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The beautiful quilting for this quilt was done my Marcia Wachuta of <a href="http://marciascraftysewing.blogspot.com/">Marcia's Crafty Sewing and Quilting</a>. I gave Marcia just a few guidelines, and she went to town with some of the best free-hand quilting I've ever seen.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aalwQyUeHWo/VQrzZN-d0HI/AAAAAAAAt8A/qLMcRWtT-oU/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B020%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aalwQyUeHWo/VQrzZN-d0HI/AAAAAAAAt8A/qLMcRWtT-oU/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B020%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="530" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is the largest center block:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a5m3fOO2O4M/VQrzaIxgIhI/AAAAAAAAt8M/HWgrOvaI1J4/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B021%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a5m3fOO2O4M/VQrzaIxgIhI/AAAAAAAAt8M/HWgrOvaI1J4/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B021%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="474" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All of the blocks for this quilt are sweet, but I particularly like these next two, showing the two main characters reading together:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z37PirdKui8/VQrzbN3cMrI/AAAAAAAAt8U/z1JMusfYPLc/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B022%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z37PirdKui8/VQrzbN3cMrI/AAAAAAAAt8U/z1JMusfYPLc/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B022%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="506" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">and Mr. Bear having his wounds tended. When I finished embroidering this block, I wrote a little story to go along with it. You can <a href="http://catpatches.blogspot.com/2012/02/bear-resting-comfortably-after-apparent.html">read that story right here</a>.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6bD3Fq6Fo9c/VQrzbGv6VuI/AAAAAAAAt8Y/VflfAHvv_jo/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B023%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6bD3Fq6Fo9c/VQrzbGv6VuI/AAAAAAAAt8Y/VflfAHvv_jo/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B023%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="548" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This next quilt is my "most decorated" quilt. I was thrilled when it took first place and won the large quilts division in the 2014 Oregon State Fair. This is the Vintage Miniature Sewing Machines quilt pattern designed by Ella &amp; Skyse Designs.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mo-ws-s7BYY/VQrzQpPnZiI/AAAAAAAAt6o/XqkjRwAw_Bk/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mo-ws-s7BYY/VQrzQpPnZiI/AAAAAAAAt6o/XqkjRwAw_Bk/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was interesting in that I learned a whole lot about the history of sewing machines while making it. For instance, this one:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XvQIgPO1P5c/VQrzQhiT26I/AAAAAAAAt6g/NBmjzAIAb8I/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XvQIgPO1P5c/VQrzQhiT26I/AAAAAAAAt6g/NBmjzAIAb8I/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="628" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As my husband and I like to say, "How do it work?" I liked the block setting the designer came up with as well, which incorporated strips of silk into the pieced block border.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yMwzAO4rr4o/VQrzQNFdQVI/AAAAAAAAt6c/SQiovFRdCXQ/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yMwzAO4rr4o/VQrzQNFdQVI/AAAAAAAAt6c/SQiovFRdCXQ/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="614" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I used a fancy stitch on my sewing machine to stitch a row of sewing machines above and below each embroidery motif, and then I quilted it with a simple spool of thread unspooling with a threaded needle at the end.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sHAL1f92Ens/VQrzSmQPf1I/AAAAAAAAt60/0WNO9Mj-AXo/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sHAL1f92Ens/VQrzSmQPf1I/AAAAAAAAt60/0WNO9Mj-AXo/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally, I wanted to share this small stitchery design that was featured in Quiltmaker magazine a few years back. The original stitchery had a banner above that said "Bless this Home". I made this one as a housewarming gift for my son and daughter-in-law when they bought their first home in October of 2013. I changed the wording in the banner to read "Home Sweet Home" and I added their house number below the upper window.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-34Jb4Bb7kE4/VQr4F89yzrI/AAAAAAAAt8o/O6OtRVCCgCo/s1600/Home%2BSweet%2BHome%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-34Jb4Bb7kE4/VQr4F89yzrI/AAAAAAAAt8o/O6OtRVCCgCo/s1600/Home%2BSweet%2BHome%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="554" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was thrilled when Quiltmaker published my project in a subsequent issue of Quiltmaker magazine.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aAMNahowcTI/VQr4JohHTiI/AAAAAAAAt8w/zq6CkDZBWF0/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B023%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aAMNahowcTI/VQr4JohHTiI/AAAAAAAAt8w/zq6CkDZBWF0/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B023%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" height="640" width="460" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So there you go. I hope you've enjoyed my little trunk show today. Before you go, don't forget to leave a comment and enter my giveaway.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With this being a post about embroidery, I thought this little fat quarter bundle of Lazy Dasy Baskets to celebrate Redwork from Darlene Zimmerman for Robert Kaufmann would be just the thing.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SUHOib9isHA/VQr_qPHy01I/AAAAAAAAt9A/vvvMutMYfjg/s1600/Blog%2BHop-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SUHOib9isHA/VQr_qPHy01I/AAAAAAAAt9A/vvvMutMYfjg/s1600/Blog%2BHop-1.jpg" height="538" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are six fat-quarters and one 23-inch panel in this pretty little bundle. All you have to do to win is leave a comment...any comment will do. Followers of this blog can get a second chance to win by leaving a second comment letting me know how you follow. If you'd like to become a follower, just check up there in my left side bar for lots of ways to do so. Finally, be sure to leave an email address. No way to contact you equals no chance to win. I will ship internationally, and so everyone is welcome to enter. Don't dally, though. I'll choose a winner sometime on Monday afternoon.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To return to the blog hop, <a href="http://www.sewwequilt.com/2015/03/meet-and-greet-with-mdm-samm.html">click right here</a>.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com144tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-34236947431026093702015-03-19T08:53:00.000-07:002015-03-20T08:00:07.314-07:00Bind On!Well, I wouldn't have thought it possible, but Psycatdelic is ready for its final hand-stitching. There was enough time left after grocery shopping yesterday to make all the little repairs that were needed and to machine stitch the binding. All that remains is to hand stitch it and this longest of the long-term projects will be finished! Here's where it stands as I'm writing:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eoaEsAPuXCU/VQrt6bxT9CI/AAAAAAAAt54/HNbE6jwLF1I/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eoaEsAPuXCU/VQrt6bxT9CI/AAAAAAAAt54/HNbE6jwLF1I/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="516" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before I added the binding, I made just a few little repairs and additions to some of the blocks. I gave this guy the gift of sight...poor thing lost his eyes during the quilting process. Also, I gave the Mouse Minor constellation an eye and I added some star-shaped hot fix nailheads to the night sky for contextual clarity.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jwjae0Xe1p0/VQrt6ZT31hI/AAAAAAAAt58/TScs9f_znY0/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jwjae0Xe1p0/VQrt6ZT31hI/AAAAAAAAt58/TScs9f_znY0/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" height="632" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, I added an eye to the flying bird, replaced the eyes on the left cat (his eyes had gotten scratched somehow), and I repaired the whiskers on the right cat.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Jv-r3FwsWU/VQrt6Xq2DPI/AAAAAAAAt50/F45btkb0XAA/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Jv-r3FwsWU/VQrt6Xq2DPI/AAAAAAAAt50/F45btkb0XAA/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" height="456" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally, I added a button to the cuff of the pointing hand. I considered adding a crystal to the ring on the finger, but then thought better of it. That's metallic thread, and I wasn't sure it would stand up to the heat of the crystal applicator. It has been known to melt thread in the past.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OujFsVr_D7c/VQrt7834YwI/AAAAAAAAt6I/8HzegWy9UaU/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OujFsVr_D7c/VQrt7834YwI/AAAAAAAAt6I/8HzegWy9UaU/s1600/Blog%2BHop%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" height="598" width="640" /></a></div><br />Finally, you made me do it. Several of you thought I should add buttons to the flowers. Maybe I was just tired of working on it, but I wasn't going to do it. Then, after reading your comments, I remembered some really perfect buttons I had that would add the finishing touch. So even after I'd written and published this post, I decided to add the buttons. Here they are:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SHIDlmHNtNQ/VQsN7PQPtmI/AAAAAAAAt9Q/a6S61QsH99A/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B362%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SHIDlmHNtNQ/VQsN7PQPtmI/AAAAAAAAt9Q/a6S61QsH99A/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B362%2Bcopy.jpg" height="636" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Just right, eh?</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DkxE-DBrT-U/VQsN7oFzHuI/AAAAAAAAt9U/bH9z8l8KWyU/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B363%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DkxE-DBrT-U/VQsN7oFzHuI/AAAAAAAAt9U/bH9z8l8KWyU/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B363%2Bcopy.jpg" height="488" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And now, it truly is once and for all finally, ultimately, ever-lastingly finished for all time...except for the hand-stitch. There's always something, isn't there?&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I might get a start on it today, but today is a busy day because I'm getting ready for our family weekend get-together over in the Tumalo Lake area near Bend, Oregon. What I don't finish today, I'll take along and work on while we're there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since I've spent nearly all of my time quilting over the past ten days, I'm woefully behind in my housework. Today I'm going to play catch-up with that, make up some sandwich filling to take along on our trip, tackle Mt. Laundry, and get a pedicure. A girl can't go off on a weekend trip without getting her toes done, now can she?</div><br />I'm told there is no wi-fi, and possibly no cell phone service where we're going, and so I'm not planning to blog while I'm away. Nevertheless, I'm writing another post today because I'm participating in:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jt4gjCrTajA/VOur-qBJL0I/AAAAAAAAq2s/v_JbNTcnJFE/s1600/meet%2Band%2Bgreet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jt4gjCrTajA/VOur-qBJL0I/AAAAAAAAq2s/v_JbNTcnJFE/s1600/meet%2Band%2Bgreet.png" height="304" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><center></center>which posts tomorrow. You can <a href="http://www.sewwequilt.com/2015/03/meet-and-greet-with-mdm-samm.html">see all the participants right here</a>&nbsp;when the blog hop goes live on Friday. And I'm going to have a nice little giveaway for you, so be sure to stop by.<br /><br />Finally, I want to take a moment to say that I've changed my blog settings once again, since my previous change didn't solve the problem I was trying to solve. It isn't worth going into. Nevertheless, some of you thanked me for allowing anonymous comments because you'd not been able to comment before, and so I'm leaving that as is. To avoid spammers, however, I'm opting to turn on word verification. It seems easier than it used to be, and so I hope none of you will be unduly inconvenienced. Please be sure to let me know if you're having problems. Part of the reason for making this change now is because of the giveaway I have scheduled tomorrow. Comment moderation is going to be a major hassle when hundreds are comments are posted.<br /><br />I hope you have a lovely first-of-spring weekend. I'll be right back here on Monday to tell you all about our trip.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-43809861487874062712015-03-18T11:38:00.000-07:002015-03-18T11:38:23.885-07:00Fever Pitch<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>You give me fever</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>When you kiss me</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Fever when you hold me tight</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Fever! in the morning</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Fever all through the night</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is the song I've been humming to myself all morning as I've worked feverishly to finish the quilting on Psycatdelic. I am happy to say it is all done!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ldftVm_PGms/VQnCWKHKU8I/AAAAAAAAt38/yKz-aHsHors/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B349%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ldftVm_PGms/VQnCWKHKU8I/AAAAAAAAt38/yKz-aHsHors/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B349%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="468" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All that is left is to repair a few of the embellishments and to sew on the binding. And since I started this quilt on October 27, 2012, you can imagine correctly that I'm feeling pretty darned good about it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As I was working along, I noticed a few little embellishments had come loose or were missing, while others were stuck fast. It's a good reason for adding them at the beginning when they won't interfere with the quilting. That way I know which ones are at risk of getting lost in the shuffle and which ones are stuck for life.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I need to go to the grocery store today, and then I'm going to come back and put the finishing touches on it. Our family weekend get together is coming up this weekend, and I'd like to take it with me and work on the hand-stitching there. That should be no problem unless something drastic happens that would prevent me from finishing it. I won't make any suggestions about what that might be since I don't want to jinx myself.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since I've done practically nothing for the past ten days other than work on this quilt, I don't have much more to tell you. With that in mind, I'll give you a little Block Album show so that you can see all the sashings and cornerstones, and all of the blocks with their associated elements.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm going to replace the hot fix nailhead eyes on this one. They are stuck fast, but they got scratched somehow, which is perplexing. None of the other ones show scratches, so I'm not sure what happened to these.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RoKDSYj9dmQ/VQnCWHz5SdI/AAAAAAAAt4E/2XJzB97gOEU/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B350%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RoKDSYj9dmQ/VQnCWHz5SdI/AAAAAAAAt4E/2XJzB97gOEU/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B350%2Bcopy.jpg" height="622" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think of all the blocks, this next one is my favorite. It puts out such joyful energy. I need to fix the top whisker on the right side. One of the threads broke, and so I'll need to fix it with some hand embroidery. Also, I'm going to give the bird an eye. There might have been an eye there at one time...or maybe not...I'm not sure.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UM4ihhDRvMg/VQnCWNhE6FI/AAAAAAAAt4A/DqM777C1iak/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B351%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UM4ihhDRvMg/VQnCWNhE6FI/AAAAAAAAt4A/DqM777C1iak/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B351%2Bcopy.jpg" height="556" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K2ZzTEp6mbo/VQnCYZ4mY3I/AAAAAAAAt4U/S6CTHvYJMRA/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B352%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K2ZzTEp6mbo/VQnCYZ4mY3I/AAAAAAAAt4U/S6CTHvYJMRA/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B352%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="630" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uKI1ATodgGE/VQnCZHszTWI/AAAAAAAAt4c/Aw0J1cgueb8/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B353%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uKI1ATodgGE/VQnCZHszTWI/AAAAAAAAt4c/Aw0J1cgueb8/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B353%2Bcopy.jpg" height="634" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This next one lost his eyes altogether. I'll need to replace them, but I'm also going to add some tiny crystals to the mouse constellation, and possibly randomly around the night sky.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OWwG3t6bX7k/VQnCZYcYm6I/AAAAAAAAt4g/l5_qYyqZp4Y/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B354%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OWwG3t6bX7k/VQnCZYcYm6I/AAAAAAAAt4g/l5_qYyqZp4Y/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B354%2Bcopy.jpg" height="636" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lrLmkZuphxI/VQnCZz9-95I/AAAAAAAAt4s/MGdy_a2ZlFE/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B355%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lrLmkZuphxI/VQnCZz9-95I/AAAAAAAAt4s/MGdy_a2ZlFE/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B355%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="582" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is another one of my favorites. I just like the colors.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MMYbL44vAQo/VQnCbL1_5vI/AAAAAAAAt40/Zp0XxAZ8Tko/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B356%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MMYbL44vAQo/VQnCbL1_5vI/AAAAAAAAt40/Zp0XxAZ8Tko/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B356%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="632" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm considering adding some buttons to the centers of the flowers on the next one. What do you think?</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j4AVtA_rGzY/VQnCcIi6SUI/AAAAAAAAt48/mwu_VBA2_GI/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B357%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j4AVtA_rGzY/VQnCcIi6SUI/AAAAAAAAt48/mwu_VBA2_GI/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B357%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="636" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mXwu4hxr060/VQnCchjcF6I/AAAAAAAAt5E/0A5lUzIy3RE/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B358%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mXwu4hxr060/VQnCchjcF6I/AAAAAAAAt5E/0A5lUzIy3RE/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B358%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="638" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fv_WxXt5Xi0/VQnCdD5jGnI/AAAAAAAAt5I/5jqAcqnOwkM/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B359%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fv_WxXt5Xi0/VQnCdD5jGnI/AAAAAAAAt5I/5jqAcqnOwkM/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B359%2Bcopy.jpg" height="632" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This next one lost a little hot fix nailhead button off the cuff of the pointing hand. I'm going to replace that, but I'm also thinking of putting a crystal where the ring is...like a diamond ring. I don't want to get too carried away with the crystals, however, so I'll have to audition it and see what I think.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3SabaLXT0eM/VQnCeB6WGxI/AAAAAAAAt5U/nTSSwgbyueA/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B360%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3SabaLXT0eM/VQnCeB6WGxI/AAAAAAAAt5U/nTSSwgbyueA/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B360%2Bcopy.jpg" height="626" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VXvV0HpmMP4/VQnCegu8ekI/AAAAAAAAt5Y/716MU4ofKOE/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B361%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VXvV0HpmMP4/VQnCegu8ekI/AAAAAAAAt5Y/716MU4ofKOE/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B361%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="610" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So there you go. Another couple of hours of work at least, and this one will be history.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If I'm going to get any more sewing time in today, I'd better get going.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-51424786419913598782015-03-17T14:59:00.002-07:002015-03-17T14:59:48.360-07:00Quilters' AcronymsWhen you learned to quilt, did you have to learn a whole new language of acronyms? I sure did. I think the first one I learned was UFO. I've heard it two ways: Un Finished Object and Unfinished Fabric Object. Either way, you don't have to quilt for very long to learn that one. And then there's the old WIP (Work In Progress). And don't forget every quilter's conundrum: When does a WIP become a UFO? I'm sure you know some other ones. Two of my favorites are PIGS (Projects in Grocery Sacks) and WOMBAT (Waste of Money, Batting, and Time).<br /><br />As I was writing this, I found a little quiz that was reposted on <a href="http://modalissa.blogspot.com/2014/02/quilt-acronyms.html">Moda Lissa</a>:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yjnoy065w1Q/VQiasMEJYrI/AAAAAAAAt1Q/xBmdZvIj4Dc/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yjnoy065w1Q/VQiasMEJYrI/AAAAAAAAt1Q/xBmdZvIj4Dc/s1600/Capture.JPG" height="640" width="524" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://modalissa.blogspot.com/2014/02/quilt-acronyms.html">Click here</a> to go to the blog post and find the answers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So one that is missing from this list is the dreaded WTF! Even if you don't know what it means, you've probably experienced it more than once.</div><br />This afternoon has been a WTF! afternoon. Here I was sewing along, minding my own business. I've been quilting the little mini-block cornerstones on the Psycatdelic quilt. They've been a little challenging to do something different on each one. And just how many ways are there to quilt a sawtooth star? Especially one that is very small. The first thing I did this afternoon was to start quilting away on one of those when I realized I was on a quilter's suicide mission. I stopped in my tracks and took it all out. Then, I started up again.<br /><br />Now, I have to preface what I'm about to say by telling you that I've been very careful with my tension on this quilt. I've been checking the back every so often just to be sure things are going along smoothly, and it has for the most part. Occasionally, I've made little adjustments, but otherwise, no problems at all. (Sounds like a bit "But" is coming, doesn't it?) Until I started up after taking out that one little cornerstone. I quilted it, and the next one, and the next one. But on the third one, I got one little loop on the top thread. It was so small, I didn't even think I needed to fix it. Then I got the bright idea to try pulling it to the back of the quilt where it would be impossible to see. When I looked at the back, what do you suppose I saw? Yes, you're right. It was the dreaded WTF! Loops and birds nests. And WTF? Not a single thing had changed, and so I have no idea what got all of that going. And why I couldn't tell before I'd done so much more quilting is a mystery to me.<br /><br />It occurred to me at that point that I'd done more ripping out than I'd done stitching in this afternoon. It seemed like a good time to take a break. I had high hopes of finishing the quilting today, but it looks like the Gods of Quilting have other ideas about that.<br /><br />As a way of making myself feel better, I decided to sit down here and show you that I've now quilted all the blocks, all of the sashings, and most of the cornerstones. Here are the blocks I did yesterday. On the first one, I quilted some grass into the green lower half, and then I kind of let the fabric tell me what to do on the upper half by following along in the design. As always, I stitched around the appliques as well.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7F1eEE-UCAE/VQidpGSqteI/AAAAAAAAt1g/wyUdjmQzrQc/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B320%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7F1eEE-UCAE/VQidpGSqteI/AAAAAAAAt1g/wyUdjmQzrQc/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B320%2Bcopy.jpg" height="602" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the next one, I quilted some rays around the sun, some clouds in the sky, and then I just did some echo quilting on the green hill in the background. Wherever I've had checkerboards to follow, I've stitched a diagonal grid.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-whRwRgbwBYY/VQidpBqgFeI/AAAAAAAAt1k/oq2PuDrMNMU/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B321%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-whRwRgbwBYY/VQidpBqgFeI/AAAAAAAAt1k/oq2PuDrMNMU/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B321%2Bcopy.jpg" height="622" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And this next one was the last block. I simply quilted along the stripes in the background, looped around the polkadots on the floor, and quilted a big spiral sun on the cat.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-feX2ihRZypc/VQido9o5yjI/AAAAAAAAt1c/iVTg0k-Z5u0/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B322%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-feX2ihRZypc/VQido9o5yjI/AAAAAAAAt1c/iVTg0k-Z5u0/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B322%2Bcopy.jpg" height="610" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then I quilted up the vertical row of sashing on the left side of the quilt, and I was ready to start on the cornerstones.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh. Well, this is a problem.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><i>Don't mind me. Keep on sewing. I'll just sit right here.</i></b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kIG99-IyL-w/VQidral7D5I/AAAAAAAAt10/huM26eIZBXU/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B323%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kIG99-IyL-w/VQidral7D5I/AAAAAAAAt10/huM26eIZBXU/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B323%2Bcopy.jpg" height="514" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Okay, so I just scooted the quilt and the cat closer to the needle to give myself some slack, and then I went on sewing. No problem. Until this afternoon. I don't even want to talk about it any more.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last night was my guild meeting, and we were treated to a slide show from John and Nancy Watts who have been involved with the Mongolian Quilting Project. When I looked this up yesterday, I wasn't sure I was seeing the same websites associated with the work John and Nancy are doing. Now that I know, I can share the <a href="http://dragonflyquilts.com/mongolia.htm">link to the website</a> with you. The Mongolian Quilting Project was started when a woman by the name of Maggie Ball&nbsp;received an impassioned e-mail from a Mongolian woman, Selenge Tserendash, who wanted to help needy women in her country where unemployment is high and alcoholism is rampant. Selenge was opening the New Way Life NGO Mongolian Quilting Center and asked for volunteers to go and teach quilting in Mongolia.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">John and Nancy responded to the call and they have traveled extensively in Mongolia. Their presentation was via a slide show, and so I don't have a lot to show you. Nevertheless, the stories of their travels were nothing short of fascinating. And impressive! They've dealt with impassable roads, lack of indoor plumbing, less-than-suitable outdoor "facilities", and food that you and I would consider questionable at best. John and Nancy are adventurous travelers, indeed. Still, their respect for the Mongolian people, their culture, the landscape, and the lifestyle was evident, and their presentation was very interesting.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Although this wasn't a "trunk show" in the way quilters think of it, they did have a table of items for sale that were made by the women in Mongolia and they were stunningly beautiful. Here is a sampling.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lEWYnviNsuc/VQidsCdeFiI/AAAAAAAAt14/1t0ILBOyG1Q/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B325%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lEWYnviNsuc/VQidsCdeFiI/AAAAAAAAt14/1t0ILBOyG1Q/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B325%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="248" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The fabrics were almost entirely of silk.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T2q4Sdxgf8o/VQidsE3UvRI/AAAAAAAAt18/eHBE2cRm2WI/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B326%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T2q4Sdxgf8o/VQidsE3UvRI/AAAAAAAAt18/eHBE2cRm2WI/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B326%2Bcopy.jpg" height="376" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There was an assortment of cozies and little zipper handbags,</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W8gaMcmSGE4/VQids5UjTxI/AAAAAAAAt2M/XmaaZn3JrY0/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B328%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W8gaMcmSGE4/VQids5UjTxI/AAAAAAAAt2M/XmaaZn3JrY0/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B328%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="638" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">and beautiful table runners.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sAAIhjYvtv8/VQidunkkSPI/AAAAAAAAt2Y/6PD117i1ecI/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B330%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sAAIhjYvtv8/VQidunkkSPI/AAAAAAAAt2Y/6PD117i1ecI/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B330%2Bcopy.jpg" height="518" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4c9E-cyNIw/VQiduT6WIxI/AAAAAAAAt2U/GObnDnrNObA/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B332%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4c9E-cyNIw/VQiduT6WIxI/AAAAAAAAt2U/GObnDnrNObA/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B332%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="378" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">John told us that these silk fabrics were from scraps that had previously been burned for heating fuel. Now they are provided as scraps for the women to use in their sewing. Look at how beautiful they are:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JpfHR0XTWR0/VQidvgHqSNI/AAAAAAAAt2k/UACAjVBSA-w/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B333%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JpfHR0XTWR0/VQidvgHqSNI/AAAAAAAAt2k/UACAjVBSA-w/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B333%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UK1qw7Ro4OA/VQidxmuK5zI/AAAAAAAAt2s/sQ9SWxA_ra0/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B334%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UK1qw7Ro4OA/VQidxmuK5zI/AAAAAAAAt2s/sQ9SWxA_ra0/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B334%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="484" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sl4MIr1mS7c/VQidxli04zI/AAAAAAAAt2w/CYJTfZEoMb0/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B335%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sl4MIr1mS7c/VQidxli04zI/AAAAAAAAt2w/CYJTfZEoMb0/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B335%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="626" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ie_RXyb3x6o/VQidyP61AzI/AAAAAAAAt20/ux8Fkza8Bss/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B336%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ie_RXyb3x6o/VQidyP61AzI/AAAAAAAAt20/ux8Fkza8Bss/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B336%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="436" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lil6bJ22L4U/VQidzTj3wZI/AAAAAAAAt3E/TaKvUxiiVJo/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B337%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lil6bJ22L4U/VQidzTj3wZI/AAAAAAAAt3E/TaKvUxiiVJo/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B337%2Bcopy.jpg" height="432" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's another sampling of quilt blocks:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hhAAkM9d6aI/VQid0GGnJNI/AAAAAAAAt3M/b1SMVecr3n8/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B338%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hhAAkM9d6aI/VQid0GGnJNI/AAAAAAAAt3M/b1SMVecr3n8/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B338%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="600" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LPO1_YrZXT4/VQid1lpLCYI/AAAAAAAAt3U/r13ZNjhHbvc/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B339%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LPO1_YrZXT4/VQid1lpLCYI/AAAAAAAAt3U/r13ZNjhHbvc/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B339%2Bcopy.jpg" height="542" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ajSndDG2cOs/VQid2J9kCbI/AAAAAAAAt3Y/41ZY7e7nE00/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B341%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ajSndDG2cOs/VQid2J9kCbI/AAAAAAAAt3Y/41ZY7e7nE00/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B341%2Bcopy.jpg" height="608" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The slippers are hand-embroidered.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8rzcOhQL08w/VQid2Zxq_5I/AAAAAAAAt3g/avO-fxlju5Y/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B343%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8rzcOhQL08w/VQid2Zxq_5I/AAAAAAAAt3g/avO-fxlju5Y/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B343%2Bcopy.jpg" height="584" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was a very interesting presentation, and a good glimpse into life in a far-away part of the world.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, just in case you think I haven't been doing anything but sewing (which is mostly true), I wanted to let you know I'm still growing tomatoes. They're getting their true leaves now.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xc_ikVcC2eo/VQid3J1RkoI/AAAAAAAAt3o/STIGUqtfL6I/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B347%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xc_ikVcC2eo/VQid3J1RkoI/AAAAAAAAt3o/STIGUqtfL6I/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B347%2Bcopy.jpg" height="384" width="640" /></a></div><br />They're all hale and hearty. We'll keep them inside for a couple of more weeks, and then move them out to the greenhouse around April 1st.<br /><br />So...now that I've taken some time away from the sewing machine, I probably need to get back and at least take out the offending stitching. And then I suppose I should try to figure out what the heck is going on. If you come around this afternoon, it will probably be a good idea to plug your ears. WTF is undoubtedly one of the milder group of vocabulary words I'll be using today.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-54456184153619402402015-03-16T06:00:00.000-07:002015-03-16T06:00:05.222-07:00All Quilting, All the TimeWe had quite a storm blow through this past weekend. According to our local newspaper, there are some trees down and some associated power outages down in the valley. We, here on the hill, felt some pretty strong gusts of wind, but not even so much as a flicker of our lights. The power was on strong, and I don't think anything fell down. Always a good thing.<br /><br />The sun came out Sunday evening, and I weathered the storm by quilting my guts out. I finished three more blocks and all the adjacent sashings. There are three blocks and three borders left. Oh yes, and I'll need to quilt all of the cornerstones. I won't get it finished today, and I probably won't finish it tomorrow. Wednesday is looking pretty promising. We shall see.<br /><br />Here's what I did. By now, it should probably go without saying that I always quilt around the edges of all the applique. On this block, I gave the sun a big swirl, and I quilted a sort of square spiral on the cat. For the hill below him, I tried creating a motif I saw on <a href="http://marciascraftysewing.blogspot.com/">Marcia's Crafting Sewing &amp; Quilting Blog</a>. Marcia calls this motif "Bubbles". I like it. It's a lot like pebbling, but you go around each circle twice. You can go around the outside or the inside of the circle, depending on how it fits your space. And you can change directions if you want to. It's a good motif, and I'll probably use it again. (Thanks for showing us your quilting, Marcia.)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kkKI87CjKks/VQYpC8rY9mI/AAAAAAAAt0s/w0DJ5M2X_8s/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B316%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kkKI87CjKks/VQYpC8rY9mI/AAAAAAAAt0s/w0DJ5M2X_8s/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B316%2Bcopy.jpg" height="598" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, I stitched a trunk and some branches into the tree. I don't actually know if that's a tree. That's what I decided it was.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Next, I did the block below...oh such a familiar scene to me. For this one I used a motif I saw on <a href="http://www.freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2013/03/18-learn-how-to-quilt-wiggle-wiggle.html">Leah Day's blog</a>. The motif in the orange background is one that Leah calls Wiggle, Wiggle, Spiral. It consists of two humps, as in stippling, followed by a spiral. That worked out pretty well, and it was simple to do.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the area below the orange where the mouse door is, I simply followed the swirls in the print of the fabric. Then below that, I did another of Leah Day's designs. It's the one she calls "Cubing". It's really just pebbling, only done in squares instead of circles.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--gcFsgetm5g/VQYpDrm9p0I/AAAAAAAAt00/TtgSXpP7fnc/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B318%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--gcFsgetm5g/VQYpDrm9p0I/AAAAAAAAt00/TtgSXpP7fnc/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B318%2Bcopy.jpg" height="624" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally, this one. I did a chevron motif in the green stripes below, and then just some wiggly lines in the picket fence. As usual, I've outlined all of the appliques.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WLYzMuJXssU/VQYpDsBKc4I/AAAAAAAAt04/HmIWwkkfAD4/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B319%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WLYzMuJXssU/VQYpDsBKc4I/AAAAAAAAt04/HmIWwkkfAD4/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B319%2Bcopy.jpg" height="630" width="640" /></a></div><br />By that time, I was pretty tired of quilting. I started around 10:00 a.m. and with just a few breaks, I quilted until 5:00. That's a lot of quilting, let me tell you.<br /><br />So today, I'll be back at it. My quilt guild meets tonight. Our speaker is someone I've never heard of: Nancy Watts and her husband, John, will be speaking on the Mongolian Quilting Project. Nancy taught women in Mongolia to quilt to make an income. They used silk scraps from China to make quilted projects. It should be interesting. Just now I did an internet search trying to find more information about it, but it was hard to tell if I was looking at her work, or someone else's. I'll tell you more about it tomorrow.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-82622648343424717082015-03-15T11:45:00.002-07:002015-03-15T11:45:46.976-07:00Beware of Flying SpoolsYou might want to put on your helmet before reading this post. This is the bobbin winder that came with Eliza. That's the bobbin thread I've been using on Psycatdelic. I've had an ongoing problem with the bobbin winder where the thread spool jumps up and down on the spindle while the bobbin is winding. I've tried holding it down with my fingers, but my fingers get in the way of the thread as it comes off the spool. If I don't hold it down, the spool comes flying off the spindle and onto the floor, trailing miles of thread behind it. All the while, the bobbin keeps winding away.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JwKIlwDqKWI/VQXNnEf-cfI/AAAAAAAAt0E/TIy7h_rSMqs/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B309%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JwKIlwDqKWI/VQXNnEf-cfI/AAAAAAAAt0E/TIy7h_rSMqs/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B309%2Bcopy.jpg" height="550" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Usually this bobbin/thread debacle happens while Mike is at work. This morning, it just so happened that Mike was in the room when it happened. This was a good thing because the spool ended up under my sewing table, which really made it sort of a two person job to hand it up to the second person and avoid unwinding miles more thread.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So Mike the Engineer opened an official investigation, and we realized that the arm that feeds the thread (the tallest one) was turned the wrong direction. Turning it back so it is directly over the spool cured that problem. Then the other problem was that it didn't shut off automatically, and so the bobbin would wind and wind and wind and wind until thread was spooling out all over the floor and onto the spindle that holds the bobbin. What a mess. Now that too is adjusted. Phew. The trials and tribulations....I don't know how I survive from one day to the next. Thank goodness for cats.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So in this whole process, the quilt got unceremoniously dumped on the floor. This worked out well for Smitty.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K-8tcp93ED0/VQXNmJMJ3jI/AAAAAAAAtz0/5oVrAb3eXEg/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B308%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K-8tcp93ED0/VQXNmJMJ3jI/AAAAAAAAtz0/5oVrAb3eXEg/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B308%2Bcopy.jpg" height="496" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before all of that happened, I decided I'd spend a little time fixing things I'd already done. For one thing...this block.&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yuM_OYyj8oU/VQXNmVkHJuI/AAAAAAAAtz4/hHPXZElcQB4/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B298%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yuM_OYyj8oU/VQXNmVkHJuI/AAAAAAAAtz4/hHPXZElcQB4/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B298%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="638" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There was a little pleat on the back, and after just three tries, I fixed that. Then, I wasn't happy with the quilting. I didn't like the little bobbles, especially in the middle diagonal line. I was either going to take that out, or I was going to quilt more lines. I opted for more lines.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-08EzyS03yfM/VQXNmgH4QPI/AAAAAAAAt0A/QUEFVWwE-P0/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B307%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-08EzyS03yfM/VQXNmgH4QPI/AAAAAAAAt0A/QUEFVWwE-P0/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B307%2Bcopy.jpg" height="632" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm quilting totally free-hand (as if you couldn't tell). My lines aren't perfectly straight, nor are they perfectly parallel. I'm hoping the many imperfections in my quilting will add to its charm. It is a funky design, after all. Ordinarily, I don't take out stitching unless I know I'll hate it forever, and so I'm hopeful that the quilting will be imperfect enough to hide its many imperfections. It's sort of a quilter's way of saying, "Yeah, I meant to do that." I like this better with more lines, and so it's going to stay, imperfections and all.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last night I finished up Block #8 for Lisa's Retirement Quilt. This block is the block designed by Sonya the lunch lady. Here is Sonya's original design:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_VQJgL7domE/VQXNdIfDL7I/AAAAAAAAtzk/s8tfJkGqVqI/s1600/Sample%2BBlock%2BSubmissions%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_VQJgL7domE/VQXNdIfDL7I/AAAAAAAAtzk/s8tfJkGqVqI/s1600/Sample%2BBlock%2BSubmissions%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" height="562" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is my fabric interpretation of it:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mXA5bUT6vf8/VQXNdRWoJ_I/AAAAAAAAtzo/y0cEvNTgUdQ/s1600/Sonya's%2BBlock%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mXA5bUT6vf8/VQXNdRWoJ_I/AAAAAAAAtzo/y0cEvNTgUdQ/s1600/Sonya's%2BBlock%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="634" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This morning I spent some time perusing the rest of the block submissions looking for one I could do quickly since we're going to be gone next weekend. I didn't decide on one. None of them are really going to go quickly, but there are two t-shirts to be made into quilt blocks. I might do one of those this week.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've been getting a lot of quilting help from my little cat. Here, he's pondering how to best murder his tail. It looked at him funny, after all. It must die now.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HML0QAHabKo/VQXNoTN62KI/AAAAAAAAt0Y/dJ4HCqR4Dtw/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B312%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HML0QAHabKo/VQXNoTN62KI/AAAAAAAAt0Y/dJ4HCqR4Dtw/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B312%2Bcopy.jpg" height="496" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Curses. The evil tail lives on. After an epic battle, he needs kitty treats.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cJehk8D6DDI/VQXNnitUWtI/AAAAAAAAt0M/ct8rRJaQ3s8/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B310%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cJehk8D6DDI/VQXNnitUWtI/AAAAAAAAt0M/ct8rRJaQ3s8/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B310%2Bcopy.jpg" height="472" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><i>Moooommmmmmm! I'm starving! Would you puh-leeze get off the computer and feed me?</i></b></div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-80103023917841655172015-03-14T16:19:00.001-07:002015-03-14T16:19:19.681-07:00There Be DragonsHappy Pi Day, Everybody! And I just want to know why we haven't celebrated Pi Day before this. I'm thinking it's because our year of 2015 allows us to carry the date and the number out an extra two digits this year, which (I'm told), makes this a super-duper sort of Pi Day that one can only experience once in a lifetime. As for me, I'm for anything that gives me an excuse to bake a pie. I had to do mine yesterday because I had a wool felting class today.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YXt397f8IPk/VQS9e4dIxtI/AAAAAAAAtyE/9yPzOqmI9ss/s1600/Dragon%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YXt397f8IPk/VQS9e4dIxtI/AAAAAAAAtyE/9yPzOqmI9ss/s1600/Dragon%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" height="538" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We had it for dessert last night, and oh my, my. I do love pie. This is an apple pie, made with a combination of Granny Smiths and Braeburns. My Baking Illustrated cookbook recommends Granny Smiths and McIntosh, but I can never find McIntosh locally. Last year, I used a suggested stand-in of Gravensteins, but even those are hard to find. I usually have to go to the farmer's market to get them. The Braeburns worked out great.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This morning I left fairly early and went to my wool felting class at a store on the other side of town called Gossamer. It was easy to find, and the store was fun to browse around. Here's how it looks. The fast-moving blur of a woman in the background is the store owner, Rose.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zOxwyjcI_M/VQS9ewSkOAI/AAAAAAAAtyQ/hF31Mk39FJI/s1600/Dragon%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zOxwyjcI_M/VQS9ewSkOAI/AAAAAAAAtyQ/hF31Mk39FJI/s1600/Dragon%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There were some felted landscapes hanging around the store, although this store dealt in pretty much all things wool.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qZ25Zgv-07E/VQS9fxUsA7I/AAAAAAAAtyY/okl-sgekmaA/s1600/Dragon%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qZ25Zgv-07E/VQS9fxUsA7I/AAAAAAAAtyY/okl-sgekmaA/s1600/Dragon%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="522" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JRJ7wFb9ChM/VQS9gdjqS-I/AAAAAAAAtyg/jPUxCbHHQvM/s1600/Dragon%2B011%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JRJ7wFb9ChM/VQS9gdjqS-I/AAAAAAAAtyg/jPUxCbHHQvM/s1600/Dragon%2B011%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="536" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They're a little abstract for my taste, but interesting nonetheless. I liked this wreath made up of lots of little felted people and critters.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wwAMQWzRa30/VQS9g0RKmsI/AAAAAAAAtyw/4cYaZbotEJM/s1600/Dragon%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wwAMQWzRa30/VQS9g0RKmsI/AAAAAAAAtyw/4cYaZbotEJM/s1600/Dragon%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" height="578" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And these felted bits of trees...maybe priced a little optimistically.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-npIi3wzzsEw/VQS9hSoLh1I/AAAAAAAAtyo/v9sv8JpcIsk/s1600/Dragon%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-npIi3wzzsEw/VQS9hSoLh1I/AAAAAAAAtyo/v9sv8JpcIsk/s1600/Dragon%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The materials are not cheap, but I don't envision these in my decor.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I did kind of like this next one. It was interesting.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X5J2AqJtefg/VQS9h7D3LpI/AAAAAAAAtzQ/v4BQSERzA8I/s1600/Dragon%2B017%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X5J2AqJtefg/VQS9h7D3LpI/AAAAAAAAtzQ/v4BQSERzA8I/s1600/Dragon%2B017%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="470" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Knitters would have liked it here, and there were lots of knitting supplies, as well as several knitters in my class.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDRNywchW0I/VQS9ic1n-yI/AAAAAAAAty4/ZI4VoRAROLg/s1600/Dragon%2B018%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDRNywchW0I/VQS9ic1n-yI/AAAAAAAAty4/ZI4VoRAROLg/s1600/Dragon%2B018%2Bcopy.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was a colorful place to wander around. Here are the wool felting fibers.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QoCApk6EVL8/VQS9eMnuSiI/AAAAAAAAtx8/6ux7FpnA-bk/s1600/Dragon%2B008%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QoCApk6EVL8/VQS9eMnuSiI/AAAAAAAAtx8/6ux7FpnA-bk/s1600/Dragon%2B008%2Bcopy.jpg" height="532" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is the dragon we were attempting to make.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FktM99QG9S4/VQS9fR-U3-I/AAAAAAAAtyI/FiOEimJKyaw/s1600/Dragon%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FktM99QG9S4/VQS9fR-U3-I/AAAAAAAAtyI/FiOEimJKyaw/s1600/Dragon%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" height="436" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">He's sitting on top of the fibers we were using for the core...a little less expensive than the colored wool fibers. The image below shows what I had when I'd felted the core for the body and the tail, and then felted the two pieces together.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rZNKz0YEHdE/VQS9izW3YlI/AAAAAAAAtzE/5c1UYL7Osn4/s1600/Dragon%2B021%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rZNKz0YEHdE/VQS9izW3YlI/AAAAAAAAtzE/5c1UYL7Osn4/s1600/Dragon%2B021%2Bcopy.jpg" height="390" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After that, I felted his neck and head, and the lower part of his jaw and his horns.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5ZoD9j6fJiI/VQS9jM_v9KI/AAAAAAAAtzI/TH4cq_pgbyg/s1600/Dragon%2B024%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5ZoD9j6fJiI/VQS9jM_v9KI/AAAAAAAAtzI/TH4cq_pgbyg/s1600/Dragon%2B024%2Bcopy.jpg" height="552" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then I added the front legs. This instructor encouraged us to think of the various parts of the dragon as tubes to be shaped and then attached, and I found that way of thinking helpful.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My dragon is far from finished, and so I don't have a picture of the finished product. I'll have to work on it some more here at home and then post it later. There wasn't nearly enough time allotted to finish a creation like this.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The instruction was quite disappointing to me. My instructor at the Stitches in Bloom quilt show could explain how felting worked, and gave us several good demonstrations that I found very helpful. We were pretty much winging it in this class. It was not a class for rank beginners. The extent of instruction seemed to be a lot of encouragement and moral support, but very little real help in how to actually accomplish such a piece. Oh well. It was good to have someone standing close by to ask when I had questions, and I still enjoyed myself. I'm signed up to make two more critters next month. Beyond that, I'll have to see.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I haven't done any more quilting since Thursday. The past two days have been busy doing other things. I'll get back to it tomorrow.</div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-43977051414065391822015-03-13T08:16:00.000-07:002015-03-13T08:16:13.669-07:00Writing FastThere are just a few minutes before I need to leave for my Friday morning walk with Sue. It's going to be a busy day, and so I'm snatching this little bit of blogging time.<br /><br />It looks as if two blocks per day is going to be my limit for quilting Psycatdelic. It isn't completely fair to say that because I'm also quilting all of the checkerboard sashings as I go. It would be a good estimate to say that I'm halfway finished with it. Six blocks are quilted, one side of the border, and two vertical rows of sashings (as well as the associated horizontal ones). Here's what I did yesterday.<br /><br />For this one, I just did some diagonal lines in the checkerboard background, some wavy lines in the blue fabric at the bottom, and then I stitched around the edges of all the applique pieces. Oh yes, and I put a swirl in all of the round applique pieces: the flowers and the sun.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yqUD8kehPYs/VQL5NEF7VXI/AAAAAAAAtxE/MzIVvEPIRnQ/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B298%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yqUD8kehPYs/VQL5NEF7VXI/AAAAAAAAtxE/MzIVvEPIRnQ/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B298%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="638" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That seemed like enough. I got a little pleat on the back when I did that one, and so I'm going to need to take out a short section of the stitching and fix it. I might also take out the diagonal line where I have a couple of little bobbles with the needle. Sometimes I get a little drag from the quilt catching on the edge of my table top, and when it lets loose, I get that little zag when I meant to zig. You know what I mean.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then on this next block, I was a little unsure what to do. I didn't really want to put a lot of the natural colored thread on the dark background. It seemed as if it would be too distracting.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hg4e8OCAVpI/VQL-MwB4zhI/AAAAAAAAtxo/EZMOqcottqg/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B144%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hg4e8OCAVpI/VQL-MwB4zhI/AAAAAAAAtxo/EZMOqcottqg/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B144%2Bcopy.jpg" height="638" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then I remembered "Meow Minor" from when I quilted the Shoot for the Moon quilt.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-krsXADJqhdM/VQL6lMqvQ4I/AAAAAAAAtxc/0wC-_ZBDi0M/s1600/Hello%2BMoon%2B225%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-krsXADJqhdM/VQL6lMqvQ4I/AAAAAAAAtxc/0wC-_ZBDi0M/s1600/Hello%2BMoon%2B225%2Bcopy.jpg" height="614" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That gave me an idea. As I've said many times, I can't draw worth beans; but that's not entirely true. If I can find something someone else has drawn, I can usually copy it pretty well. So, with that in mind, I went in search of a line drawing for a mouse, and I found this one:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/r/y/M/s/s/7/clear-mouse-outline-hi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/r/y/M/s/s/7/clear-mouse-outline-hi.png" height="320" width="316" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All I needed to do was add some "stars" dot-to-dot style. Also, the tail was a little too much for the space I had, and so I changed it a little. Here's what I came up with:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ONRf7XmtWgc/VQL5NpmHt1I/AAAAAAAAtw8/s9Yo1rMbY8w/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B304%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ONRf7XmtWgc/VQL5NpmHt1I/AAAAAAAAtw8/s9Yo1rMbY8w/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B304%2Bcopy.jpg" height="532" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's primitive, but Mike recognized it as a mouse right away, and that's good enough for me. All I needed to do then was to add a few other things in the sky, stitch around the appliques, and my block was finished:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cclZEN44ux8/VQL5PLjRGmI/AAAAAAAAtxQ/VdiTXIgkcbk/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B306%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cclZEN44ux8/VQL5PLjRGmI/AAAAAAAAtxQ/VdiTXIgkcbk/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B306%2Bcopy.jpg" height="604" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This fellow lost his eyes along the way. I found one on the floor at my feet, and the other one was ready to fall off. Obviously my iron wasn't hot enough when I attached them. I'll have to put new ones on when this is all finished.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We are celebrating Eliza's coming-of-age today. She has used up her first full spool of thread yesterday. I'm considering having this mounted to hang on the wall of my sewing room.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--pIEVZako84/VQL5NddUA0I/AAAAAAAAtw4/B3dVjwEsjLg/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B299%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--pIEVZako84/VQL5NddUA0I/AAAAAAAAtw4/B3dVjwEsjLg/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B299%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="442" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today, I'm baking an apple pie for Pi Day tomorrow: 3.1415. I made the dough for the crust yesterday, and so today I'll roll it out, add the fruit, bake, and eat. I'll probably save a piece for when Mike gets home. I'm baking my pie today because tomorrow I'm going to take a needle felting class. We are making this dragon:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0512/2377/products/dragonn_large.jpg?v=1425088032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0512/2377/products/dragonn_large.jpg?v=1425088032" height="500" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm imagining some of you might be saying, "Hey, whatever happened to the sheep she was supposed to make last month?" Or maybe not. We went ATVing instead, and so I switched my registration to this month's class. Just now I looked at their website so that I could copy that image, and I discovered that they're offering a two-fer class in April. I signed up right away. We'll be making a rabbit:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0512/2377/products/th-2_large.jpg?v=1424811887" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0512/2377/products/th-2_large.jpg?v=1424811887" height="348" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And I'll get another chance at the sheep:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0512/2377/products/sheepy_079c0695-a368-4190-a78c-8787da17e6ab_large.jpg?v=1424044685" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0512/2377/products/sheepy_079c0695-a368-4190-a78c-8787da17e6ab_large.jpg?v=1424044685" height="367" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If I have time this afternoon, I'll get some more quilting done...or maybe I'll just fix the parts I'm not happy with yet. And I'm thinking that's enough for one day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We're expecting rain for the entire weekend, but today...none. Nada. Zilch. I'm going to get out and enjoy it. What about you? What's on your agenda for today?</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-73410691896087760572015-03-12T09:37:00.000-07:002015-03-12T09:37:37.268-07:00Stitching and More StitchingAside from doing laundry and some housework, I spent the whole day quilting yesterday. I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped, however, because I ended up taking out a whole section of one of the blocks. Hopefully, I'll be more productive today, and since I have a day at home today, color me quilty.<br /><br />Two more blocks are done now, for a total of 4 out of 12. I just did some back and forth in the fence background there, and some loopy things (these are technical terms) in the pickets. Then I did a little whirligig thing in the sun there. Or maybe it's the moon, I don't know. Then I outlined around the cat.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_oqudxiILTA/VQG5dJv1YcI/AAAAAAAAtvo/ZXLJjB0BCLQ/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B287%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_oqudxiILTA/VQG5dJv1YcI/AAAAAAAAtvo/ZXLJjB0BCLQ/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B287%2Bcopy.jpg" height="590" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This next block is the one I ended up redoing. Originally, I had some flame design that was completely wrong. When I was finished, I hated it, and I knew that would be the only thing I would see for the rest of my life if I didn't fix it. So I took out the whole thing and started again with this snowflake motif. I like it much better now.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-geSP3e0WMEE/VQG5dNts7yI/AAAAAAAAtvg/iZ6PFbEIvEA/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B288%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-geSP3e0WMEE/VQG5dNts7yI/AAAAAAAAtvg/iZ6PFbEIvEA/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B288%2Bcopy.jpg" height="572" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's hard to see in this image, but I did a sort of square spiral in the green checkerboard fabric below, and then I outlined the cat.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today I'll be spending some time putting a grid in the next row of vertical sashing, and then I'll get started on the second vertical row of blocks. It's moving along.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This morning I did my usual embroidery session, and I noticed I'd neglected to color one of the candies on the gingerbread house. Not to worry.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7yo0804_FlA/VQG5dTc4BVI/AAAAAAAAtvk/jA2C5FE8IiU/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B290%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7yo0804_FlA/VQG5dTc4BVI/AAAAAAAAtvk/jA2C5FE8IiU/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B290%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Crayons to the rescue. The center is colored with "carnation pink" and then it's outlined with "wild strawberry". I love the names of crayon colors.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ofEfaqsLAAc/VQG5gBOLGhI/AAAAAAAAtv4/WRzRbXpQ1cs/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B291%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ofEfaqsLAAc/VQG5gBOLGhI/AAAAAAAAtv4/WRzRbXpQ1cs/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B291%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's okay that it's outside the lines. You can see that all of the outlining is outside the lines. It doesn't matter. Once it's been stitched, it looks just right. And here's how far I've come with this. The bottom left corner is finished now.&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3yHsrTVtpbA/VQG5g_INi6I/AAAAAAAAtwA/uzoKPtAy4i4/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B292%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3yHsrTVtpbA/VQG5g_INi6I/AAAAAAAAtwA/uzoKPtAy4i4/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B292%2Bcopy.jpg" height="558" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For a while, I've had a yen to make a wall hanging from a couple of images taken in the Sonoran Desert. And I'll just say right here that I think the Sonoran Desert is the most beautiful desert in America. This next image was taken in Organ Pipe National Monument, not far from Tucson, Arizona.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FBLioK29yvY/VQG6D8uD8dI/AAAAAAAAtwg/jRHEb9Q8HjA/s1600/Perimeter%2BTrail%2B2011-02-05%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FBLioK29yvY/VQG6D8uD8dI/AAAAAAAAtwg/jRHEb9Q8HjA/s1600/Perimeter%2BTrail%2B2011-02-05%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And the next one was taken from Saguaro National Park West, in Tucson. I love the browns in the landscape in the lower part of the image.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gq3tn2SU6P0/VQG6UFCqVjI/AAAAAAAAtwo/B20XsvJ28aQ/s1600/Saguaro%2BNP%2BWest117_edited-1sml.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gq3tn2SU6P0/VQG6UFCqVjI/AAAAAAAAtwo/B20XsvJ28aQ/s1600/Saguaro%2BNP%2BWest117_edited-1sml.jpg" height="470" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So my quilt idea is to superimpose the mountains from the lower image over the sky from the upper image.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Recently, I had an email conversation with <a href="http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/">Vicki Welsh</a> about whether she could custom dye some fabric to replicate the sky above. Vicki suggested that I'd have better luck piecing the sky, and she made some suggestions about choices from among her gradient fabrics. I chose four different ones that seemed to have all the colors I was seeking. They arrived the other day, and they are so beautiful.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-POmAOkGwCMo/VQG5g7WzxmI/AAAAAAAAtwE/uKrpDLGdpzM/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B295%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-POmAOkGwCMo/VQG5g7WzxmI/AAAAAAAAtwE/uKrpDLGdpzM/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B295%2Bcopy.jpg" height="604" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While I've been thinking about this for a long time, I haven't yet taken any steps to turn my quilt idea into an actual quilt, but I'm one step closer now. I don't know when I'll actually get started on this project, but before year's end, I think.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also today, I started working on the next block for Lisa's Retirement Quilt. (I'm waiting for Lisa to come up with a more colorful name for her quilt.) The next block is Sonya the lunch lady's block. Here it is reworked to the size I need. I first scan these, and then set my size restrictions. Then, I crop the image to the size I want. (I'm not sure why I ended up with those bands of red on either side, but they are irrelevant. I cropped those out.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2xv2hVEXj5c/VQG5kEHpDwI/AAAAAAAAtwY/0m0ZwJxCu4k/s1600/Sonya's%2Bblock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2xv2hVEXj5c/VQG5kEHpDwI/AAAAAAAAtwY/0m0ZwJxCu4k/s1600/Sonya's%2Bblock.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today, I made a sort of "beta" image and removed Sonya's handwriting from the bottom of the block so that I could isolate the food pyramid. I left the edges of the circle so that I could cut it for applique. Then, I printed it onto fabric. Ta-Da!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vK2nVzBJ2Ag/VQG5h5f0_GI/AAAAAAAAtwM/Cc2kiQBmAS8/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B296%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vK2nVzBJ2Ag/VQG5h5f0_GI/AAAAAAAAtwM/Cc2kiQBmAS8/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B296%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="624" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So that turned out pretty well. I've been sweating how to reproduce that food pyramid, which is perfect for Sonya, the lunch lady. Now, I'll trace Sonya's signature and message back onto the white fabric below, and then applique the circle onto some sort of vegetable or fruit fabric...or something...I know I have something appropriate. When that's all done, I'll hand embroider Sonya's signature onto the block, and it will be finished.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These blocks are challenging me in a good way. It's kind of fun to try to reproduce them as closely as possible, and to still keep the hand of the block designer alive in the design.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With all of that finished, I'm ready to get on with my day of quilting. Hopefully, I'll get more done today than I did yesterday. It's all good, however. A day spent quilting is a good day, no matter what.</div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-74185342660167232862015-03-11T08:24:00.000-07:002015-03-11T08:24:09.594-07:00Quilter at Work<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mAmAX9j8vxQ/VQBZmpHdjCI/AAAAAAAAtu0/At-fc_85l-4/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B285%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mAmAX9j8vxQ/VQBZmpHdjCI/AAAAAAAAtu0/At-fc_85l-4/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B285%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="508" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I stopped for the day yesterday, my quilt looked like this. I leave the needle down, and I put the bulk of the quilt over my chair back. Sometimes things go "jump in the night" and everything ends up on the floor. With cat fuzz. How does that happen?&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Things are going pretty well. A short section needed to be taken out because I got a little pleat on the back. Still, there were some potential pleats I was more worried about, and those never materialized. (Oh, that could be a very bad pun, couldn't it?)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I've now quilted the border and sashing to the far right, although I'm holding off on the cornerstones until I switch back to variegated thread. When I'd finished with that, it was time to start on the blocks. This one is done now.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ipINMYNp1oo/VQBZnXOfCMI/AAAAAAAAtvA/KB1BbHk8jec/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B283%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ipINMYNp1oo/VQBZnXOfCMI/AAAAAAAAtvA/KB1BbHk8jec/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B283%2Bcopy.jpg" height="596" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I did the cross-hatching in the checkerboard section, and then I simply quilted around the edges of the applique pieces and called it good.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For the next block, I continued on with the cross-hatching in the checkerboard section. You can see it there in the sashing too.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S2noShgj1MA/VQBZnGTje9I/AAAAAAAAtu4/SyOSfPoOZNw/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B284%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S2noShgj1MA/VQBZnGTje9I/AAAAAAAAtu4/SyOSfPoOZNw/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B284%2Bcopy.jpg" height="532" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This cat is large enough that I only fused it at its edges. That meant that the cat needed some quilting to give it stability. Quilting is, after all, not just a pretty face. It also serves a function. So I gave the cat a large pebbling motif, and then did some loopy star meandering in the sky.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's as far as I got before I needed to stop. I have a day at home today, and so I'm hoping to be well on my way toward a finish by day's end.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Because I whined and complained so much about thread-basting this quilt, I want to say here that I'm really impressed with how easy the quilt is to work with. I used a herringbone stitch to baste it, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_EjBGz5vGQ">Sharon Schamber style</a>. She points out in her video that once it's basted, you can move that quilt all around or leave it on a shelf for years, and it will hold fast. True enough. It does feel very securely held together. The thing I'm liking about it, however, is that I can simply snip those stitches as I come to them, pulling out what I need to, and leaving the rest intact. It makes for easy quilting when there are no pins involved. Some of you told me I would like this, but I didn't believe it until I tried it for myself.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Spray basting is still my preferred way to sandwich a quilt, but on a quilt this large, thread-basting was the better choice for a couple of reasons. First, the quilt was too large for me to take outside to do the spraying, and there's no way I'm spraying that inside in my sewing room. Take my word for it. The fumes are toxic and flammable, but worse, you'll have overspray on everything. It's hard to clean up. Ask me how I know. Second, it would be very expensive to spray baste a quilt this size. I'm betting you could use an entire can of spray on one large quilt.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You can probably guess how I'm spending my day today. I have a few house-keeping chores, but aside from that, it's quilting all the way, all day. I'm really hoping I'll be well along by this time tomorrow.</div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-12473934702964735342015-03-10T12:11:00.000-07:002015-03-10T12:11:30.381-07:00Cat on CatsGood morning. Smitty here. The weather has been so nice here in Purregon that I haven't been blogging much. However, when I saw my mom quilting my favorite quilt today, I needed to give you my two cents purrth.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EvbYVi6JLt4/VP9AiVgIGxI/AAAAAAAAtug/dnYeFkXQ7pQ/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B280%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EvbYVi6JLt4/VP9AiVgIGxI/AAAAAAAAtug/dnYeFkXQ7pQ/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B280%2Bcopy.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My mom has been grinding her teeth over this quilt. I've been napping on it every day, purring in my most reassuring way (or "reapurring" for those of you who speak Cat). Finally, yesterday, she started sewing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I helped her out by rubbing on her sewing machine. Her sewing machine is sometimes very uncoopurrative, and so I'm just greasing the gears with my chin whiskers.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2m9BkA4alDc/VP9AiK3UCZI/AAAAAAAAtuY/PgaODqtl9T0/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B281%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2m9BkA4alDc/VP9AiK3UCZI/AAAAAAAAtuY/PgaODqtl9T0/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B281%2Bcopy.jpg" height="518" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">She said that I was making it more difficult for her to sew, and asked me if I wanted to move along somewhere else.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I shook my head "no" most vigorously.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Nh1-ZJWAwA/VP9Ah3gRkEI/AAAAAAAAtuU/qA-JxUc1kwg/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B282%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Nh1-ZJWAwA/VP9Ah3gRkEI/AAAAAAAAtuU/qA-JxUc1kwg/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B282%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="440" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sheesh. Whose quilt does she think this is anyway? Humans. Can't live with 'em, and the cat food bowl goes empty without 'em. It's the ultimate cat's dilemma.</div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-79688963046573407422015-03-10T10:49:00.001-07:002015-03-10T10:49:46.303-07:00Once and Future CatsYesterday I was able to summon the courage to get a start on the Psycatdelic quilt. This is one of my favorite quilts ever, and I've been working on it for as long as I've worked on anything. Is it surprising, then, that it has taken me a couple of months to work up the courage to start quilting it? The last thing I want to do is mess it up just when I reach the home stretch.<br /><br />As I said yesterday, I've been gnashing my teeth about how skimpy my quilt back is, and I've worried that quilting it will pull the right side (in particular) too close to the edge of the quilt top.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xFkAFN7aHPc/VP8qsa-B47I/AAAAAAAAttY/T2rfYe6iBBM/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCat%2BCollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xFkAFN7aHPc/VP8qsa-B47I/AAAAAAAAttY/T2rfYe6iBBM/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCat%2BCollage.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To avoid this, I decided to quilt from right to left on the quilt. Yesterday I quilted the entire length of the right side border. I'm just quilting around some of the shapes of the cats, giving preference to the ears as much as possible. Before I started on this, I had in mind to stitch directly on the design, but then I decided I didn't want to cover that line of metallic gold. Instead, I'm stitching right beside it, and it's giving me the effect I want.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dgKLmEDXAUU/VP8q0Z2x1aI/AAAAAAAAtto/D479xEpuBLA/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B274%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dgKLmEDXAUU/VP8q0Z2x1aI/AAAAAAAAtto/D479xEpuBLA/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B274%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The fabric is very bright, and so any quilting I do here isn't really going to show much. Quilting around the edges of the cats gives them just a tiniest bit of definition.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before going very far, I flipped to the back to see how things were going. I'm only about 1/8-inch into the selvage, and so It's going to be fine once it's trimmed and bound.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-23kH8ibCHnk/VP8q1mPh4II/AAAAAAAAtt8/qR2SA_GCdqI/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B279%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-23kH8ibCHnk/VP8q1mPh4II/AAAAAAAAtt8/qR2SA_GCdqI/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B279%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="454" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And with that scary hurdle out of the way, I'm hooked on quilting this quilt to its happy conclusion. Since I'm working from right to left, the next part will be the sashings and mini-block cornerstones. This is a design I like for pinwheels.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bxwVumaQMjI/VP8qz0jikJI/AAAAAAAAttk/EusPyuHAumQ/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B276%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bxwVumaQMjI/VP8qz0jikJI/AAAAAAAAttk/EusPyuHAumQ/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B276%2Bcopy.jpg" height="638" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Still getting my Eliza "land legs", and so it isn't perfectly within the lines. Nevertheless, I'm happy with it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm kind of winging it with these, and so I used this design for the next one as I moved toward the top. (Cat fuzz. Argh! How did that get there?)</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FKyj39NC_E8/VP8qzhVPsQI/AAAAAAAAttg/QlCuNpaw0is/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B277%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FKyj39NC_E8/VP8qzhVPsQI/AAAAAAAAttg/QlCuNpaw0is/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B277%2Bcopy.jpg" height="630" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I thought about this originally, I had in mind to use a variegated thread for the borders and back, and to use matching threads for the quilt blocks. Instead, I've decided to use this "natural" YLI quilting thread. It's the same thread I used for quilting A Gardener's Journal, and I really liked how it turned out for that one.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r8lJyMJ5nyg/VP8q1F0aWUI/AAAAAAAAtt4/L0PzmTekI_Q/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B278%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r8lJyMJ5nyg/VP8q1F0aWUI/AAAAAAAAtt4/L0PzmTekI_Q/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B278%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="494" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For these checkerboard sashings, I'm doing a diagonal grid, but only in the lighter squares. There are quite a few of these checkerboard sections throughout the quilt blocks, and so I'll do something similar there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm about halfway finished with this right-side sashing. I realized in looking at these pictures that I used a variegated thread in the pinwheel cornerstone and then a natural thread in the second of the cornerstones. I think I need to choose one or the other, and so I'll pay closer attention as I go around. For now, I'm going to leave this as is. I can decide to redo it later if I don't like it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today I need to make a quick trip to the grocery store and the post office. It's probably the last day of sunshine for a while, and so I want to get out for another walk. And then...quilting, quilting, and more quilting. It's such a good feeling when a project that was once looked on with great trepidation starts to feel like a happy obsession. I can't wait to get back at it. Today I'll probably start quilting some of the blocks.</div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-8478980485114002932015-03-09T11:34:00.000-07:002015-03-09T11:34:01.478-07:00Busy BeeYesterday and today I worked on blocks. I like mixing short projects between long ones. Last week I spent my time working on the Rubber Ducky baby quilt. Now that it's finished, I was looking forward to doing some little projects that could be finished quickly.<br /><br />Our hostess for the We Bee With It bee I'm in this year asked for these scrappy wonky star blocks. She wanted one in pink:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NgficYWvqtM/VP3idnXPz5I/AAAAAAAAtsU/3Rz93Bn-egw/s1600/Blocks%2B071%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NgficYWvqtM/VP3idnXPz5I/AAAAAAAAtsU/3Rz93Bn-egw/s1600/Blocks%2B071%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="634" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And one in blues and greens:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2GiNdohsizw/VP3id4YnVFI/AAAAAAAAtsY/BbVqv7Y7k2w/s1600/Blocks%2B070%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2GiNdohsizw/VP3id4YnVFI/AAAAAAAAtsY/BbVqv7Y7k2w/s1600/Blocks%2B070%2Bcopy.jpg" height="638" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They're pretty simple to make, and you could make them any size you want. In this case, all the squares are 3.5 inches, just sewn into a 16-patch.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QLSvRCMuruI/VP3icoIMwxI/AAAAAAAAtsM/4w0mClLVqas/s1600/Blocks%2B072%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QLSvRCMuruI/VP3icoIMwxI/AAAAAAAAtsM/4w0mClLVqas/s1600/Blocks%2B072%2Bcopy.jpg" height="322" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With those finished, I'm ready to take on a larger project: quilting the Psycatdelic quilt.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J6LleZlznn8/VP3im-M6cpI/AAAAAAAAtso/lNh7gnA8-YA/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B266%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J6LleZlznn8/VP3im-M6cpI/AAAAAAAAtso/lNh7gnA8-YA/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B266%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="514" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At 65 x 81 inches, this is the largest quilt I've ever attempted to quilt myself. If Eliza hadn't come to live with us, I would be sending it out to a long arm quilter.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I finished it up a few months ago, I realized that I was going to run short of that Laurel Burch border fabric, and I wanted to use it for the back as well. I measured, and figured, and calculated, and came up with a way of cutting it that preserved almost the precise amount I needed to use it for both borders and back. Then, in my usual style, I took the back seam just a little deeper than I might have, which meant that I barely had enough space on the back to stretch all the way across.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I thread basted it a few months ago, I had about two inches to spare on the left side, but I was right at the selvage edge on the right.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-07vBsJnGPvw/VP3k_S8W27I/AAAAAAAAts4/kVz7kTN0X7U/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B272%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-07vBsJnGPvw/VP3k_S8W27I/AAAAAAAAts4/kVz7kTN0X7U/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B272%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Literally.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AolD4xfbots/VP3k_DcC8mI/AAAAAAAAts0/ezFHSHrOOkY/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B273%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AolD4xfbots/VP3k_DcC8mI/AAAAAAAAts0/ezFHSHrOOkY/s1600/Folk%2BArt%2BCats%2B273%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="472" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Okay. So I think this is going to be fine, and I can always shave a little off the edges of the borders and make them narrower if I need to. But I decided I could start quilting on this right border and quilt from the middle to the top and then from the middle to the bottom. Then I'll work from right to left across the quilt and it should work out. We shall see. I really hope I don't end up hating myself.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My plan is to quilt around the shapes of some of the cats to help poof them out a little in the borders. I have a variegated thread I'll use there and in my bobbin, so the quilting really won't show much on the back. When I get to the blocks, I have plans for each one of them, and I'll use matching threads there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It feels like a quilting journey of 1,000 miles to me right now--sort of the quilting equivalent of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Please come looking for me if I don't call home at regular intervals. Hm. I wonder if I should attach a homing beacon of some kind to myself.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's a beautiful day here today, and so I have plans to get out for a walk. The rain is expected to return by Wednesday. Better walk while the walking is good.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-8041562342079136192015-03-08T15:25:00.000-07:002015-03-08T20:04:12.522-07:00This, That and the Other ThingIt's another beautiful day here, and even warmer than yesterday. Today's gardening task was to deadhead the hydrangeas. We have five, and four of them are done now. The fifth gets more shade than any of the others, although it is still the largest. It didn't have enough green buds showing for me to feel comfortable hacking away at it. I decided to give it another week and try again. Besides, my back was complaining by that time.<br /><br />I noticed a few more things while walking around in the garden this morning. For one thing, a few of the star magnolia have opened completely. These are growing up over my head, but I can stand on the deck and see them there.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TpqoH-RZegg/VPzIMmLfmjI/AAAAAAAAtrM/uUidbm3lqnI/s1600/Samantha%2BZoey%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TpqoH-RZegg/VPzIMmLfmjI/AAAAAAAAtrM/uUidbm3lqnI/s1600/Samantha%2BZoey%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" height="456" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, one of the clematis is getting read to bloom. This will be covered with purple blossoms within the week.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GLyxuXHn3Mk/VPzIOHjLL_I/AAAAAAAAtrc/KLESe5QRYa8/s1600/Samantha%2BZoey%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GLyxuXHn3Mk/VPzIOHjLL_I/AAAAAAAAtrc/KLESe5QRYa8/s1600/Samantha%2BZoey%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="494" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is another clematis around the corner of the house from this one that shows no signs of life at all. It struggled last year, and I'm afraid the November ice storm might have done it in. I told Mike that if it isn't showing signs of life within a month, we're going to replace it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before I went out to work in the garden, I got a start on the next Gingerbread Square stitchery. I just love all the colors in these.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dZk9HJ7F7-Q/VPzINd9YqhI/AAAAAAAAtrU/IEtvbmda7tM/s1600/Samantha%2BZoey%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dZk9HJ7F7-Q/VPzINd9YqhI/AAAAAAAAtrU/IEtvbmda7tM/s1600/Samantha%2BZoey%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" height="628" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One tree down, lots more to go.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After I came back inside this afternoon, I finished up the next block for Lisa's retirement quilt. This is the photographic image submitted by Lisa's student Zoey and her classroom helper mother, Samantha. If you've been reading along, you know that I wrote a little <a href="http://catpatches.blogspot.com/2015/03/valeries-birthday-party.html">tutorial</a>&nbsp;about how to do a reverse image search on Google. I needed to do that in order to come up with a template for this paper-pieced block.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qJ2sJ5zMZrY/VPzINclH_cI/AAAAAAAAtrY/RtyIntG_tVQ/s1600/IMG_20150301_0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qJ2sJ5zMZrY/VPzINclH_cI/AAAAAAAAtrY/RtyIntG_tVQ/s1600/IMG_20150301_0002.jpg" height="640" width="638" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The original block was created by <a href="http://six-white-horses.blogspot.com/2013/05/sun-please.html">Anna at Six White Horses</a>&nbsp;and the <a href="http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/quilting/home-decor/sun-please-paper-pieced-quilt-blocks/53425">link to her "Sun, Please" block</a> can be found on Craftsy. The original block is a 12-inch block, and all of the blocks for this quilt need to finish up no larger than 6-1/2 inches. That meant reducing the pattern templates by 50%, but then I needed to add a border around the whole thing in order to accommodate Zoey and Samantha's signatures. This is how it looks now that I've finished it up.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VY0_CvvkTBk/VPzIPuu44eI/AAAAAAAAtr0/1CJgGZbFBNs/s1600/Samantha%2BZoey%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VY0_CvvkTBk/VPzIPuu44eI/AAAAAAAAtr0/1CJgGZbFBNs/s1600/Samantha%2BZoey%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" height="638" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Have I told you lately how much I hate paper-piecing?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I selected the next block I'll do...this one, simply because it was on the top of the stack.&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IhK6Wsp21to/VPzIPjMvsJI/AAAAAAAAtrw/yhTsmRQwgx8/s1600/Samantha%2BZoey%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IhK6Wsp21to/VPzIPjMvsJI/AAAAAAAAtrw/yhTsmRQwgx8/s1600/Samantha%2BZoey%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" height="320" width="312" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This one was created by Sonja the lunch lady. I'll have to interpret this one a little more creatively too. Since there's no way for me to reproduce the food pyramid in a meaningful way, I'm going to print that part onto fabric, and then applique it to the circle background. I'm thinking I'll probably attach the circle to another background of some vegetable or fruit fabric. Also, I have some leftover recipe card fabric from a project I made long ago. That would make a cute background too. I'll have to try some different ones and see which one works best.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've had lots of help in my comings and goings today. Smitty has been nosing into the middle of things in the garden, and helping me keep things scrappy in the sewing room. You can't hope for better friends than that.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gxdgl8qZNVg/VPzIOxEeRTI/AAAAAAAAtrs/8vu6PAMI-QE/s1600/Samantha%2BZoey%2B008%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gxdgl8qZNVg/VPzIOxEeRTI/AAAAAAAAtrs/8vu6PAMI-QE/s1600/Samantha%2BZoey%2B008%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="632" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've been putting off cleaning up until I finished the gardening today, and so it's probably time to do that. How is your day going?</div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-6177419530635337732015-03-07T12:55:00.000-08:002015-03-07T12:55:55.197-08:00Give me a YardIt's a gorgeous day here in the Pacific Northwest. We're expecting temperatures into the 70's. Yes, Gail, that would be <i>above</i>&nbsp;zero. So sorry you're still in the cold. This is usually a very wet time of the year for us, and temperatures in the 70's the first week of March is highly unusual. It seemed like a good day to get out and do some work in the yard, cleaning up some of the winterkill.<br /><br />The first thing I noticed is this crazy tulip. The second bud is opening now.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3rLe9OLCUhg/VPtgDGybDVI/AAAAAAAAtow/3paCWCrREH0/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3rLe9OLCUhg/VPtgDGybDVI/AAAAAAAAtow/3paCWCrREH0/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Each year, I start with my culinary herb garden. What a mess:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PYkIcWqpq8E/VPtgDtU_HKI/AAAAAAAAto8/JTir9L55GbY/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PYkIcWqpq8E/VPtgDtU_HKI/AAAAAAAAto8/JTir9L55GbY/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B004%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The culinary herb garden curves down a hill, and so the only way to fit it into a frame is to hold the camera at a funny angle. Just tilt your head. After a couple of hours of ripping and snorting, I had it looking much better.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-otQZOA1Vrz4/VPtgGFrwNJI/AAAAAAAAtpE/k1j2243-goI/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-otQZOA1Vrz4/VPtgGFrwNJI/AAAAAAAAtpE/k1j2243-goI/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" height="408" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I know what you're thinking: Did she actually do anything? Yes. I did. And here's the pile of dead stuff to prove it. It's about three feet in diameter.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hMfoIapX-xw/VPtgGlWGBoI/AAAAAAAAtpI/K7DSseta5fo/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hMfoIapX-xw/VPtgGlWGBoI/AAAAAAAAtpI/K7DSseta5fo/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B006%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mike will come along and pick this up in the tractor bucket. I make the messes. He cleans them up. It's a recipe for a long and happy marriage.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There isn't much growing in the herb garden yet. It seems I lost my sad little thyme plant this year, probably in the ice storm back in November. It had struggled for a long time, and so that was no surprise. More surprising is that I think I lost one of my three French lavender plants. I'll replace both of those with some starts. A few things were showing some green: the sorrel and the marjoram both show promise. The most obvious thing growing in those little green tufts are the chives. Oh yes. We'll have plenty of chives this year. Also, I've struggled to get a rosemary plant to survive the winter. The one there in the top half of the picture is looking great!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-otQZOA1Vrz4/VPtgGFrwNJI/AAAAAAAAtpE/k1j2243-goI/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-otQZOA1Vrz4/VPtgGFrwNJI/AAAAAAAAtpE/k1j2243-goI/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B005%2Bcopy.jpg" height="408" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And how:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-prpbT9NyNoA/VPtgG4UT6YI/AAAAAAAAtpQ/GLyqzmiGwAI/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-prpbT9NyNoA/VPtgG4UT6YI/AAAAAAAAtpQ/GLyqzmiGwAI/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B007%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="468" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, I pulled up the dead catnip. That has come back every year for the past couple of years. I'm hoping it'll come back again, but I don't see any signs of it yet.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After that, I decided to take a walk around to see what else is growing. Welcome to my spring garden! Follow me, please.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DPvqb1Pwm7A/VPtgQKNap-I/AAAAAAAAtq0/4KL0J94CxdE/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B023%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DPvqb1Pwm7A/VPtgQKNap-I/AAAAAAAAtq0/4KL0J94CxdE/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B023%2Bcopy.jpg" height="470" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the cherry trees has buds on it now. The other gets more shade, and I didn't notice any buds on it yet.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_E4Q5YlYtTU/VPtgHBZxB3I/AAAAAAAAtpU/0XewjxMdnmo/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B008%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_E4Q5YlYtTU/VPtgHBZxB3I/AAAAAAAAtpU/0XewjxMdnmo/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B008%2Bcopy.jpg" height="458" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The daylilies are off to a good start.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-74tgW47sqxU/VPtgJBoaCAI/AAAAAAAAtps/9GR9m-ygIfY/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-74tgW47sqxU/VPtgJBoaCAI/AAAAAAAAtps/9GR9m-ygIfY/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B010%2Bcopy.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My favorite star jasmine is loaded with flowers now...mainly on the part of the plant way over my head. Again, I think it gets more sun up there.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NPCozc1DfkE/VPtgJQ-tmCI/AAAAAAAAtpw/kobwoXzlr14/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B011%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NPCozc1DfkE/VPtgJQ-tmCI/AAAAAAAAtpw/kobwoXzlr14/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B011%2Bcopy.jpg" height="508" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here are a few of the blossoms down lower where I can see them. They're not quite open yet. I'm hoping they'll open in the next couple of days.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--xOIHToRwyk/VPtgK2Ju5sI/AAAAAAAAtp8/Fa6S5a7j2dk/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--xOIHToRwyk/VPtgK2Ju5sI/AAAAAAAAtp8/Fa6S5a7j2dk/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B012%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="496" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The petals are very delicate and easily bruised by the rain. We aren't expecting any rain before Thursday, and so I'm hopeful they'll give us a good show before the rain damages them.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ENNDpCtLTSk/VPtgLxKjT9I/AAAAAAAAtqE/FOvg6hpZ6nI/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ENNDpCtLTSk/VPtgLxKjT9I/AAAAAAAAtqE/FOvg6hpZ6nI/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B013%2Bcopy.jpg" height="442" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This little dwarf spruce was a Christmas tree one year. Occasionally, we buy one of those pre-decorated trees when we're feeling unbelievably lazy at Christmas. They come pre-decorated and lit. All you do is set them on a table and plug them in. My kinda Christmas decorating. Anyway...this one was only about knee high on me when we planted it in the ground.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZzA1PyG1VpU/VPtgMqdUCWI/AAAAAAAAtqI/etUOsxRyN0M/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B014%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZzA1PyG1VpU/VPtgMqdUCWI/AAAAAAAAtqI/etUOsxRyN0M/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B014%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="396" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There where my hand is shows you how far over my head it is now. I'm 5'5", and so it's grown a whole lot. There are a few more of these growing around the yard, but this is the largest.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xc-km-0MDmY/VPtgMuG2gWI/AAAAAAAAtqM/zlnPGozhxgE/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B015%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xc-km-0MDmY/VPtgMuG2gWI/AAAAAAAAtqM/zlnPGozhxgE/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B015%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="428" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are daffodils blooming all over now.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-67BvBQtTx4s/VPtgNXxx6CI/AAAAAAAAtqY/HtMsxf31pZw/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B017%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-67BvBQtTx4s/VPtgNXxx6CI/AAAAAAAAtqY/HtMsxf31pZw/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B017%2Bcopy.jpg" height="448" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And I think the flowering plums are having their best year ever.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GZL9Ry_1iIg/VPtgONrKXII/AAAAAAAAtqk/ywTLfDVCGO0/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B019%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GZL9Ry_1iIg/VPtgONrKXII/AAAAAAAAtqk/ywTLfDVCGO0/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B019%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Many years ago, we tried planting these to line the driveway. They kept dying, and we replaced them for a while until it became clear that was a losing proposition. We stopped replacing them and we have about half left from the original 14 we planted. They're looking pretty good. That little short one in the left-hand corner is what's left of one Mike ran over with the tractor. Oops.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5G8_goOvElo/VPtgOyZYflI/AAAAAAAAtqo/FGjz-Lt_tPo/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B022%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5G8_goOvElo/VPtgOyZYflI/AAAAAAAAtqo/FGjz-Lt_tPo/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B022%2Bcopy.jpg" height="502" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The wisteria is loaded with buds now, but no leaves, and not very close to opening. That one usually puts on a show about six weeks from now, but everything is very early this year.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HSfSQEcNldg/VPtgQMbw2sI/AAAAAAAAtq4/eNgtMrNt6go/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B024%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HSfSQEcNldg/VPtgQMbw2sI/AAAAAAAAtq4/eNgtMrNt6go/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B024%2Bcopy.jpg" height="528" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I brought out the sundial. We always put it away during the winter because a heavy snow will break off the gnomon (that's the wand). It already sprang ahead.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hIzjXAKXQVU/VPtgIcNKBzI/AAAAAAAAtpk/P76T5Jw6YzM/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hIzjXAKXQVU/VPtgIcNKBzI/AAAAAAAAtpk/P76T5Jw6YzM/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B009%2Bcopy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you're having trouble reading that it says: "The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So that's about all the yard work I'm up for today. It's going to be nice again tomorrow. If I haven't totally messed up my back and knees with today's work, I'm going to get out and deadhead the hydrangeas tomorrow.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also this morning, I stitched the next block for The Vintage Kitchen wallhanging.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B8sN4pTRP_o/VPtgCpNksiI/AAAAAAAAtos/ZURLsaoZj94/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B8sN4pTRP_o/VPtgCpNksiI/AAAAAAAAtos/ZURLsaoZj94/s1600/Herb%2BGarden%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" height="400" width="383" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Next up, I'm going to clean up my sewing room and make some blocks. I think it's going to be a great weekend here at the Three Cats Ranch. I hope your weekend is off to a good start too.</div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045426307379086704.post-80379721682404022462015-03-06T15:52:00.001-08:002015-03-06T15:52:42.262-08:00Ducks in a RowThis afternoon, I was able to finish up the Rubber Duckies baby quilt I started earlier in the week. I had the blocks all sewn together yesterday.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zBrz2rXXYvk/VPo7Bi-ehaI/AAAAAAAAtns/fbEMURZi0Ko/s1600/Rubber%2BDuckie%2B036%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zBrz2rXXYvk/VPo7Bi-ehaI/AAAAAAAAtns/fbEMURZi0Ko/s1600/Rubber%2BDuckie%2B036%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This afternoon, I added the first border...</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FMR3GozMEzU/VPo7BYwjT_I/AAAAAAAAtno/FXudIYi3qnY/s1600/Rubber%2BDuckies%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FMR3GozMEzU/VPo7BYwjT_I/AAAAAAAAtno/FXudIYi3qnY/s1600/Rubber%2BDuckies%2B001%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="494" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">and then the second border, finishing the top.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9jGbuHZ0R70/VPo7CHke9LI/AAAAAAAAtn0/RfQ5kZXJeq0/s1600/Rubber%2BDuckies%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9jGbuHZ0R70/VPo7CHke9LI/AAAAAAAAtn0/RfQ5kZXJeq0/s1600/Rubber%2BDuckies%2B002%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="522" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My friend, Deb, (the quilt is for her grandchild) chose the outer border fabric. While she was shopping for it, she also found a remnant of the binding fabric. I've laid it along the right side there so you can see how it looks.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-usnk8SZ1tzk/VPo7C7BbY6I/AAAAAAAAtn8/jUfMOss9WJg/s1600/Rubber%2BDuckies%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-usnk8SZ1tzk/VPo7C7BbY6I/AAAAAAAAtn8/jUfMOss9WJg/s1600/Rubber%2BDuckies%2B003%2Bcopy.jpg" height="410" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As I said in an earlier post, we weren't able to find duck fabric in green and yellow like she wanted, but I think the binding brings all the colors of the quilt together nicely.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are two quilts on my quilting to-do list, and so I'll set this one aside for a bit. My plan is to quilt it in April, and it will be ready for her grandchild's arrival in May.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Over the weekend, I'm hoping to get some blocks made. I need to make two bee blocks. We're making these scrappy star blocks this month in pink and aqua colors.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-InQUcW67ey0/VPo7EN-yN8I/AAAAAAAAtoE/tSxq4tQ4LCM/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-InQUcW67ey0/VPo7EN-yN8I/AAAAAAAAtoE/tSxq4tQ4LCM/s1600/Capture.JPG" height="312" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All the squares are 3.5 inches, and so it should be easy enough to figure out the rest.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, I want to make the next block for Lisa's Retirement Quilt.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mn8aR6SO83k/VPo7IvbjVzI/AAAAAAAAtoQ/QQ_fVtcPrx8/s1600/IMG_20150301_0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mn8aR6SO83k/VPo7IvbjVzI/AAAAAAAAtoQ/QQ_fVtcPrx8/s1600/IMG_20150301_0002.jpg" height="640" width="638" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had planned to start on this earlier, but my printer gave up the ghost. I needed to print out the templates, and I was kind of stuck until the printer was running again. Mike got that going last night, and so I'm ready to rumble again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We're expecting temperatures in the 70's this weekend...the warmest so far this year. Looking forward to getting outside a little. My culinary herb garden could definitely use some cleaning up.</div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatpatches.blogspot.com" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">Pin It</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05835208971743967582noreply@blogger.com13